Educational accreditation#Unaccredited institutions

{{Short description|Quality assurance process}}

{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=July 2016}}

{{Education in the U.S.}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

Educational accreditation is a quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated and verified by an external body to determine whether applicable and recognized standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the appropriate agency.

In most countries, the function of educational accreditation is conducted by a government organization, such as the Ministry of Education. The United States government instead delegates the quality assurance process to private non-profit organizations.{{cite periodical |first1=Marjorie Peace |last1=Lenn |url=http://www.wes.org/ewenr/wenrarchive/QA_HighEdQualAssTrendsSpr92.pdf |publisher=World Education Services |title=Global Trends in Quality Assurance in Higher Education |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029041745/http://www.wes.org/ewenr/wenrarchive/QA_HighEdQualAssTrendsSpr92.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2008 |periodical=World Education News & Reviews |volume=5 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1992 |pages=1 and 21}} Those organizations are formally called accreditors. In order to receive federal funding and any other type of federal recognition, all accreditors in the US must, in turn, be recognized by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which is an advisory body to the U.S. Secretary of Education. The federal government is, therefore, still the top-level architect and controlling authority of accreditation.{{cite web |first1=Judith |last1=Eaton |url=http://www.chea.org/Research/president-letters/2016-06-24-naciqi-statement.html |title=A Statement from Judith Eaton President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629083645/http://www.chea.org/Research/president-letters/2016-06-24-naciqi-statement.html |archive-date=29 June 2016 |website=CHEA, CIQG |date=24 June 2016 |at=Paragraph 6 |url-status=dead}} The U.S. accreditation process was developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century after educational institutions perceived a need for improved coordination and articulation between secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, along with standardization of requirements between the two levels.{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.middlestates.org/History.html |title=The History of the Middle States Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924155446/http://www.middlestates.org/History.html|archive-date=24 September 2010 |publisher=The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools |access-date=6 October 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.northcentralassociation.org/HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20NORTH%20CENTRAL%20ASSOCIATION.htm |title=History of the North Central Association |website= North Central Association of Colleges and Schools |access-date=6 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213052827/http://www.northcentralassociation.org/HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20NORTH%20CENTRAL%20ASSOCIATION.htm |archive-date= 13 February 2011 }}{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.advanc-ed.org/what-accreditation |title=What Is Accreditation? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100907071332/http://www.advanc-ed.org/what-accreditation|archive-date=7 September 2010 |website= AdvancED |access-date=6 October 2010}}

In higher education

{{main|Higher education accreditation}}

Accreditation of higher education varies by jurisdiction and may focus on either or both the institution and the individual programs of study.

Higher education accreditation in the United States has long been established as a peer review process coordinated by accreditation commissions and member institutions. The federal government began to play a limited role in higher education accreditation in 1952 with the reauthorization of the GI Bill for Korean War veterans.{{cite web |url=http://www.chea.org/pdf/RecognitionWellman_Jan1998.pdf |title=Recognition of Accreditation Organizations: A Comparison of Policy & Practice of Voluntary Accreditation and The United States Department of Education |publisher=CHEA |date=January 1998 |first1=Jane V. |last1=Wellman |access-date=6 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615135829/http://chea.org/pdf/RecognitionWellman_Jan1998.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2010 }} With the creation of the U.S. Department of Education and under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies for higher education.

Higher Education extends beyond the United States. Within North America, Canada has agencies such as EQual Accreditation, overseen by Accreditation Canada,{{cite web|url=https://accreditation.ca/}} that ensures programs meet national benchmarks for educational excellence and quality standards for health education programs.{{Cite web |title=EQual Accreditation in Canada |url=https://accreditationxpert.com/accreditation-canada/ |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=Accreditation Expert Consulting |date=22 October 2024 |language=en-US}} Mexico has similar agencies such as the {{lang|es|Conseo para la Accreditation de la Education Superior}} (COPAES){{cite web|url=https://copaes.mx/}} for academic programs in Mexican Higher Education.

In the European Union, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education registers quality assurance agencies that provide accreditation.

In primary and secondary education

{{Main|Pre-tertiary-education accreditation}}

In the United States, there is no federal government list of recognized accreditation agencies for primary and secondary schools like there is for higher education.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} Public schools must adhere to criteria set by the state governments, and there is wide variation among the individual states in the requirements applied to non-public primary and secondary schools.U.S. Department of Education, [https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/non-public-education/regulation-map/index.html State Regulation of Private Schools], June 2000. There are seven regional accreditors in the United States that have historically accredited elementary schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high schools, as well as institutions of higher education.{{cite web|title=CHEA: Directory of Regional Accrediting Organizations|url=http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp|access-date=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831092348/http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp|archive-date=31 August 2009|url-status=dead}} Some of the regional accreditors, such as, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, International Association for Learner Driven Schools (IALDS), New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, AdvancED, and some independent associations, such as the Association of Christian Schools International{{cite web|url=https://www.acsi.org/school-services/accreditation|title=ASCI : Accreditation|website=ASCI.org|publisher=Association of Christian Schools International}} and Council of Islamic Schools of North America (CISNA),{{cite web|url=http://www.cisna.org/accreditation-process.html|title=CISNA : Accreditation Process|publisher=Council of Islamic Schools in North America }} have expanded their accreditation activity to include schools outside the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.advanc-ed.org/where-we-are|title=Where We Are|publisher=AdvancED|access-date=8 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905095531/http://www.advanc-ed.org/where-we-are|archive-date=5 September 2012}}[http://www.acsi.org/Programs/ACSIGlobal/tabid/584/Default.aspx Association of Christian Schools International]{{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120718040608/http://www.acsi.org/Programs/ACSIGlobal/tabid/584/Default.aspx|date=18 July 2012}} Acsi.org

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Postsecondary Institutional Accreditors in the United States}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Educational Accreditation}}

Category:Educational evaluation methods