ACCREDITED HIGHER INSTITUTIONS

1956

INTRODUCTION

the United States there is no single agency having jurisdiction

trol as exists is lodged in the 48 States, the District of Columbia, and outlying possessions. It may range from close supervision over the chartering and establishing of new institutions and periodic review to determine their eligibility for continued approval to little, if any, supervision, particularly in the case of privately controlled institutions. State departments of education in most of the States, and State universities in a number of them, engage in some form of approval of institutions within their borders. Wide variation in practices among the States has led to the development of voluntary agencies which have assumed responsibility for establishing criteria and identifying those institutions which have been found to meet and maintain announced standards in the educational activities in which they are engaged. The institutions thus identified are said to be "accredited," and the process, unique to the United States, is known as "accreditation."

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ACCREDITING AGENCIES The Commissioner of Education is required under Section 253 of the Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, known as Public Law 550 of the 82d Congress, to "publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies and associations which he determines to be reliable authority as to the quality of training offered by an educational institution." In pursuance of this mandate the following criteria for determining nationally recognized accrediting agencies and associations were evolved and published in the October 4, 1952, Federal Register:

CRITERIA

The agency or association

1. Is regional or national in the scope of its operations (regional as here used means several States);

2. Serves a definite need for accreditation in the field in which it operates;

3. Performs no functions that might prejudice its independent judgment of the quality of an educational program;

4. Makes available to the public current information covering: (a) criteria or standards for accreditation, (b) report of its operations, (c) a list of accredited institutions, courses or educational programs;

5. Has an adequate organization and effective procedures to maintain its operations on a professional basis. Among the factors to be considered in this connection are that the agency or association:

(a) Secures sufficient and pertinent data concerning the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the work of an institution, including data on such items as the educational objectives, educational programs, admission practices, training and experience of teachers, financial stability, laboratory and library resources.

(b) Uses qualified examiners to visit institutions and inspect courses, programs and facilities and to prepare written reports and recommendations for the use of the reviewing body and causes such examination to be conducted under conditions that assure an impartial and objective judgment.

(c) Re-evalues at reasonable intervals the accredited institutions, programs and courses of study.

(d) Has financial resources, as shown by its current financial statements, necessary to maintain accrediting operations in accordance with published policies and procedures.

6. Accredits only institutions which are found upon such examination to meet specific standards for accreditation, established in advance in terms that include the factors above described;

7. Has had not less than two years' experience as an accrediting agency, or in the alternative demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that it has been organized under conditions that reasonably assure stability and permanence and that it has gained the acceptance required under 8 below during such shorter period;

8. Has gained acceptance of its criteria, methods of evaluation, and decisions, by educational institutions, practitioners, licensing bodies and employers throughout the United States;

9. Assurance is given that accreditation for the purposes of the act will not be conditioned on the payment of any sums of money: Provided, however, That a reasonable charge may be made by the agency or association for its services hereunder not exceeding the actual cost of the accreditation.

The Commissioner's list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies and associations includes six regional associations and 24 professional agencies and associations. The lists furnished by these agencies are reproduced in Parts I and II of this bulletin. REGIONAL ACCREDITING AGENCIES

The six nationally recognized regional accrediting associations1 together cover every section of the country. These admit to membership only those institutions that meet and maintain certain

1The names of the regional accrediting associations, together with the names and addresses of the executive secretaries, the area covered, and the effective date of the list included in this publication, are listed on page 6.

announced standards. For many years the regional accrediting associations limited their accreditation to undergraduate programs of the general and liberal arts type. Gradually, however, they are assuming responsibility, with the assistance of representatives of appropriate professional agencies, for accrediting institutions as a whole.

The six regional accrediting associations have established a National Committee of Regional Accrediting Agencies for the purpose of coordinating the activities of regional accrediting agencies, and of cooperating with similar national agencies. Annually, in September, the Committee issues a list of Accredited Institutions of Higher Education. An institution is eligible for inclusion in this list, after satisfactory evaluation by the regional association, if it

is a state, municipal, or incorporated private institution not operated for profit, devoted to and offering at least 2 years of higher education at the undergraduate level or 1 year at the graduate level, with an enrollment sufficiently large to make possible the continuance of a cohesive and wellplanned program; operating under legal authority granted by the state or national government, granting its degrees or diplomas by virtue of that authority, having already granted degrees or diplomas to one or more graduating classes.

PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITING AGENCIES

For each of the following there is at least one active, nationally recognized professional accrediting organization: Anesthesia, architecture, Bible, business, chemistry, chiropody, dentistry, engineering, forestry, journalism, law, library science, medicine, music, nursing, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, public health, religious education, social work, teacher education, theology, and veterinary medicine. These organizations formulate criteria for professional education and publish lists of those institutions whose programs are adjudged to be worthy of approval. Since the publication of the 1952 edition of Accredited Higher Institutions the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists and the American Association of Schools of Religious Education have been added to the list of nationally recognized professional accrediting agencies. The voluntary accrediting organizations, regional and nationwide, have no legal control over institutions of higher education. They merely promulgate standards of quality of criteria of institutional excellence and approve or admit to membership the institutions that meet those standards or criteria. The only power that the accrediting organizations have is that of giving publicity to

The full name of each organization and the name and address of its secretary appear in Part II preceding the list of the institutions accredited by the association.