Six regional accreditation bodies, along with dozens of specialized groups, create and implement standards to ensure the quality of the higher education experience. These bodies are non-governmental agencies, made up of their member institutions. Representatives of the institutions meet to create and revise standards, to review the accreditation status of other member institutions, and to consider the admission of applicants to their ranks.
College and University Accreditation — The Role of the Faculty in the Accrediting of Colleges and Universities. This statement was approved by the Association’s Committee on Accrediting of Colleges and Universities, adopted by the Association’s Council in April 1968, and endorsed by the Fifty-fourth Annual Meeting.
The AAUP's Committee on on Accreditation: The AAUP has a very active committee on accreditation. In the past several years, it has monitored the development of standards on distance education, protested the accreditation of a completely on-line institution, testified against a state franchise for a for-profit adult school that relied on publicly funded academic libraries to support its application for licensure, and convened a roundtable discussion among administrators, accreditors, and faculty on ways to preserve quality in the changing educational environment. See the list of committee members.
Keynote address to the Middle States Association: AAUP general secretary Roger Bowen delivered a keynote address to the Middle States Association at their meeting December 6, 2004. In that address, Bowen asked Middle States to consider endorsing the AAUP's 1940 Statement.
Letters to Congress: On April 13, 2004, Committee Chair Rodger Govea co-signed letters with Government Relations Committee chair Gerald Turkel to the two Congressional committees that will handle re-authorization of the Higher Education Act. The letters outlined the AAUP’s concerns regarding developments in accreditation, and our intention to work with Congress in pursuing appropriate legislative and regulatory action. Read the letter to the U.S. House and the letter to the U.S. Senate.
Accrediting Agencies Joint Statement on Accrediting Distance Education Programs: In 2000, the six regional bodies got together to recommend a set of principles for the accreditation of distance education programs. Each region will consider whether and how to incorporate this statement of principles into its own standards.
Accreditation Standards: In most cases, the accreditation standards and procedures used by each regional body can be found on their Web sites, as follows:
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Higher Education
Jean Avnet Morse, Executive Director
http://www.msche.org
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
Charles M. Cook, Director
http://www.neasc.org
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The Higher Learning Commission
Steven D. Crow, Executive Director
http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org
Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities
Commission on Colleges and Universities
Sandra E. Elman, Executive Director
http://www.nwccu.org/
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges
James T. Rogers, Executive Director
http://www.sacscoc.org
(Western region operates as two separate commissions):
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
Barbara A. Beno, Executive Director
http://www.wascweb.org
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Ralph A. Wolff, Executive Director
http://www.wascweb.org
Academe: Bulletin of the AAUP
Opinions expressed in Academe's contributed feature articles and reviews are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the AAUP.
Feature Articles & News
Critic Appointed to Accreditation Review Panel. July-August 2007. By Gwendolyn Bradley. Nota Bene.
Faculty Forum: The Spellings Commission. March-April 2007. By James E. Perley.
(updated 7/07)