Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

{{short description|Voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association in Mid-Atlantic United States}}

{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}

{{primary sources|date=March 2014}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

| image = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools logo.png

| image_border =

| size =

| caption = MSA logo

| map = MSA map.png

| msize = 175px

| mcaption = Historical operational area

| abbreviation = MSA-CESS

| formation = 1887

| status = Association

| purpose = Educational accreditation

| headquarters = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| region_served = The United States and over 100 other countries world-wide

| main_organ = Board of Trustees

| website = {{URL|https://msa-cess.org/}}

| affiliations =

}}

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, also referred to as the Middle States Association or MSA, is an accreditor in the United States. Historically, it has accredited schools in the Mid-Atlantic states region of the northeastern United States. The peer-based, Philadelphia-based non-profit association was founded in 1887. It is a voluntary organization that performs peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools (including parochial / religious-owned and independent secular schools).

The association has two commissions, the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools (MSCES) and Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (MSCSS). A higher education commission, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), operates completely independently of the other two commissions. MSCSS also accredits some institutions that offer postsecondary education but only those that do not confer academic degrees or offer technical programs.[https://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg6.html Regional and National Institutional Accrediting Agencies]. U.S. Department of Education, "College Accreditation in the United States". Retrieved 9 April 2018