[HarryHirsch]

there is no such thing as a "college professor license"

Our accreditating agency insists that that faculty members have got a degree (actually 18 credit hours at graduate level) in the subject they teach. If you are a foreigner it's a pain in the arse, because you need to produce an equivalency evaluation, even more so when your degree wasn't modular.

It causes complications when you teach an allied subject (say your degree certificate says you are a physicist and teach physical chemistry in the chemistry department) but it's easy to see why the accreditator insists: there was a time when there were too many unqualified people teaching.

The real trouble occurs when the institution mistakes certification for qualification, but that's a different story.

[WoodenChair]

There's a big difference between a private organization (accredited by another private organization) requiring someone have a degree and the government requiring someone have a license.

[HarryHirsch]

For practical purposes there's no difference at all, the outcome is the same. Someone puts down a list of requirements, and the school will comply - if they don't there's consequences.

If a school won't comply to licensing requirements they government will levy a fine. If a school fails accreditation students will run away, they rightly think that employers won't take their degree seriously. There also won't be federal student loans.

Sometimes professional bodies approve degrees. There are no consequences at all, except that the more capable students stay away from unrecognized degree programs. At my department they are actually moving away from adjuncts because the professional body requires that courses be taught by full-time lecturers or professors. Leadership has decided that the extra expenses for full-time faculty members with benefits are justified by the improved quality of students.

[WoodenChair]

There is a big difference because when you don't follow the government's rules, you get shutdown. When you don't follow an independent body's rules, you can keep operating you're just not accredited. There are many great non-accredited institutions that teach all manner of skill across this country, including excellent non-accredited colleges.