Why does Accreditation matter? (Score 1)

If you are independently wealthy (from a few years of work in the computer industry) and you wanted to go get a Ph.D. in computer science, not for profit but to contribute to the field, where would you go to get ready for such a program? With free tuition, who needs Federal Programs? To prepare for medical school, places such as Columbia's School of General Studies over the course of a year prepare the premed with no science background for medical school. They generally don't grant a degree; and people completing such studies are much more likely to get into medical school than biology majors. What counts is who your professors are, when graduate school admissions time comes around. If Patrick Henry Winston says that you are good enough, you are good enough -- and any sufficiently advanced Ph.D. program usually is tailored to the student, so a track such as this one might make perfect sense to the student who realizes later on in school that computer science (viewed as an aspect of formal logic and philosophy) is where her interest really lies. This is an excellent idea to get bright minds into the University, so that 10 years from now, our computer science professors will be the best in the world. Remember, most job postings say Bachelor's degree OR EQUIVALENT. This goes beyond the equivalent. I plan to ruthlessly appropriate the information these kind souls plan to give out.