I was responding to
ExSan
I would expect that Mathworks would qualify as an "accredited institution" at which to take a Matlab class since they develop and sell the software. They do not define who the institution need be accredited by.
However, per the comments above, I would ask UCB to refer you to one.
It would seem to me that a course in
C++ would be a stronger show of programming prowess. Basic Matlab is pretty straight forward to pick up if you are already familiar with a higher level language.
I think that an admissions committee would want to see not merely that a student has
taken a course, but would prefer some
evaluation of the student's performance, relative to other students in the course (i.e., a grade.)
If you take a course from Mathworks, it is going to be training over a period of several consecutive days. It would include in-class exercises, but it would not include evaluated homeworks/projects/examinations. You may receive a "certificate of completion" at its conclusion, which is little more than a certificate of attendance. I'm sure that the course is excellent, but this does not provide a way for an outsider (e.g., an admissions committee) to evaluate whether you have in fact mastered the material, or merely showed up.
On the other hand, if you take a course from an academic institution and earn a grade/mark/score which documents your proficiency and achievement, that is far more likely to carry weight with an admissions committee which is selecting among many highly qualified candidates.
With regard to the term "accredited institution" as it is applied here in the USA, the US Department of Education does not accredit colleges and universities -- it doesn't have the resources to do so.
Rather, there are multiple organizations which periodically review programs at institutions of higher education and issue certifications that the institution as a whole, or a specific program at that institution, delivers an education which meets a minimum standard.
The US Department of Education maintains a list of approved accrediting organizations, and compiled the listings of the schools which have successfully passed their respective accreditation process.
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx
Certain of these groups are regionally based, while others focus on institutions/programs in a specific discipline.
For example, all (respected) colleges and universities located in New York and certain nearby states are accredited by the "Middle States Commission on Higher Education"
http://www.msche.org/ .
There are similar organizations which focus on other regions of the country.
Additionally, there are national organizations which accredit programs with a specific focus, for example medical schools, law schools, nursing schools. Plus, there are entities like the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, and the American Board of Funeral Service Education, which accredit schools offering education for those specific careers.
In theory, this process should enable the identification of bona-fide colleges and universities vs. "diploma mills."
It also encourages universities to continue to meet the required standards, as re-accreditation takes place according to a specific timetable (e.g., every fifth year). For example, if a currently accredited college were to stop hiring full-time faculty (because they are expensive) and instead primarily hire (poorly-paid) part-time faculty (known in the USA as "adjuncts"), who are hired on semester-long contracts for just those courses for which they are needed, the accrediting body could threaten to refuse to renew the accreditation of such institution.