Featured articles > Accreditation/Inspection Agencies > Accrediting Agencies for American Schools (in the US and Abroad)
How to separate the sheep from the goats, the authorised from the bogus. Beware the alphabet soup of lookalike initials and reversed titles: all accrediting agencies are not equal.
Why does it matter whether a school is accredited or not, as long as it has a lively principal, great teachers and good exam results?
Accreditation matters because a thorough accreditation process vets a school in ways parents usually cannot, even if they currently have children in the school. That process, among other things, forces a school to pull up its socks and closely examine its own standards and plans. It allows an independent body to look behind the scenes for appropriate governance and clean bookkeeping, encourages transparency, and measures the amount of input “stakeholders” (parents) have on financial planning – all ofwhich is particularly important in international schools, when many are privately owned and, according to the laws of the land, it is quite legal for an owner to do whatever he wants with the school funds (including buy himself a new boat).
Accreditation also matters because without it, high school diplomas are not usually accepted by colleges and universities and college credits cannot be transferred; nor are degrees accepted for graduate schools.
The real question for a school without any accredition is, "Why not?" A good school, with most of its ducks in a row and stable finances, has nothing to fear from this useful, arms-length process, and everything to gain. Do be wary of schools that do not bother, and don't hesitate to ask pointed questions.
Which are real and which are dodgy?
Although the website of the US Dept of Education states that they do not have the authority to recognise any agencies, they then blithely refer to these as nationally recognised agencies, and do recognise the authority of the postsecondary level of these agencies to accredit colleges and universities. Do not let this confuse you. These are the agencies the USDOE recognise in all but statute.
Therefore, there are six accrediting agencies "recognised" by the US Secretary of Education. Each region in the United States has an acronym that ends in ACS or ASC under the Commission on Colleges (COC) [NB "colleges" in the US means post-secondary level schools, synonomous with the generic British "university"]. However, that having been said, MSACS (see below) is usually known as MSA (Middle States Association).
These accreditation bodies are strict and complete. Repeat: without an accreditation from one of them, high school diplomas are not accepted by colleges and universities and college credits cannot be transferred; nor are degrees accepted for graduate schools.
They are:
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS)[but usually known as MSA]
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCASC)
Northwest Association of College and Schools (NACS)
Private (or independent) schools may also be accredited by other agencies, such as the Council of International Schools (CIS), or a regional organization like the Florida Council of Independent Schools. However, there may be private schools, both secondary and post secondary that do not pass the rigorous standards of the official six, and which may be accredited by a variety of agencies with an alphabet soup of initials. To check for legitimacy amongst regional or state accrediting associations, go to the membership organisation, National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), or the Council for Higher Education Accreditations (CHEA)
For a list of agencies recognised by the US Department of Education (we apologise in advance for the glacial pace of their website; go fix a sandwich while you wait) go to http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg7.html or the densely typed, all but unintelligible http://www.ifap.ed.gov/aagencies/doc0022_bodyoftext.htm (this is the official list the Secretary of Education is required by statute to publish). There used to be even more interesting lists of agencies NOT recognised by the USDOE, but they are now either gone or very hard to find (the result of a bit of litigeous discipline, undoubtedly). So without giving you lists of examples, beware of infinitesimal but crucial differences in wording and initials between the accepted and the rejected. We do trust the above referenced lists, and if an agency is not on it, it would be a good idea to do more research (feel free to contact us; we do occasionally discover agencies that deserve to be on our approved and vetted list).
[NB We still have a poor opinion of the US Department of Education's websites, but recently, they have improved their game enough to now have an uncharacteristically direct and easily accessible section on "diploma mills" and "fake agencies". Throughout this section and many of the links, they do not mince words about the dangers of these agencies and schools, and resources available for you to check. Their lists aren't perfect (and tend to lean towards information on postsecondary), but as we find them, we will publish them.]
Schools in foreign countries are also eligible to seek accreditation through one of these agencies; if it purports to be an American international school, it should most definitely be accredited by one of the regional agencies, although a school may be additionally accredited or inspected by other legitimate agencies or organizations such as the IBO or the above mentioned CIS. As is stated elsewhere, membership in some organizations (like the National Association of Independent Schools(NAIS) or the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) ) is only possible if the school is accredited by an approved accrediting agency...another good clue for inquiring minds.
If you just can't get enough of this subject, go to the section of the excellent NAIS site that lists the accredition agencies that they recognise (and who are organisational members). If nothing else, it will be a treat after some of these other websites. Unlike the US Department of Education, NAIS does not pussyfoot around, and if they say they recognise an agency, then they really do.