A question or two regarding colleges.

Accreditation is done by regional accreditation associatons/commissions, which are recognized by the US Department of Education.

State funded colleges/universities are funded by government money, state and federal, as well as private donations. Private institutions are largely funded privately, although within the institution there may be federal grant money being used for various projects.

More detail: http://www.degree.net/guides/accreditation_guide.html

For universities with engineering or science colleges, ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) provides accreditation. According to their website:

[i:1kn9a8za]In the United States, accreditation is a non-governmental, peer-review process that assures the quality of the postsecondary education students receive. Educational institutions or programs volunteer to undergo this review periodically to determine if certain criteria are being met.[/i:1kn9a8za]

Without ABET accreditation, many employers and state licensing boards will not recognize (or make it more difficult) an engineering degree.

[quote="Spinner":2p1g8dap]Okay. Now, do colleges/universities affiliated with religious backgrounds get federal funds? And those schools (think: TCU, SMU, Oral Roberts Univ, etc etc) that are tied directly to religion, do they require classes in religious studies? And if they do that, what are their science classes like?[/quote:2p1g8dap]

In general, no. Religious affiliated schools don't receive direct federal funding, although individual professors or projects can be funded by federal grants for research.

A religious affiliated school could require classes in religious studies. Most probably do. My wife went to Baylor, and they required an Old Testament class and a New Testament class and one or two others. It would be somewhat hypocritical for a religious scool not to include some sort of religious study as a requirement for graduation.

Their science classes have to teach all of what you learn in any secular university because it's part of the subject matter. My wife said her biology class taught evolution and old earth information at Baylor, and the class was told that the information was being taught but was not open for debate during that class, whether you believed it or not.