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Council for Higher Education Accreditation

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Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Higher Education Accreditation logo.png
AbbreviationCHEA
Established1996
President
Cynthia Jackson-Hammond
Key people
Gena Glickman, Board Chair
Websitewww.chea.org
This article is part of a series on
Education in the
United States
Summary
Issues
Levels of Education
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The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education accrediting organizations, including regional, faith-based, private, career, and programmatic accrediting organizations.[1]

The organization has accredited colleges and universities as members, and currently recognizes approximately 60 accrediting organizations.[2] CHEA is based in Washington, DC. CHEA is a member of International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).[3][4]

Discover more about Council for Higher Education Accreditation related topics

United States

United States

The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City.

Academic degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including undergraduate degrees, master's, and doctorates, often alongside other academic certificates and professional degrees. The most common undergraduate degree is the bachelor's degree, although in some countries there are lower-level higher education qualifications that are also titled degrees.

Educational accreditation

Educational accreditation

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.

Higher education

Higher education

Higher education is tertiary education leading to the award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. It represents levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the 2011 version of the International Standard Classification of Education structure. Tertiary education at a non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education.

International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education

International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education

The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) is an international quality assurance body. It works closely with national accreditation bodies, including the Council for Higher Education Accreditation in the US, and other coordinating bodies, such as the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (EQNA) in Europe, and with academicians to control educational quality in around 140 countries, and is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.

History

Established in 1996, CHEA is the successor to several earlier national nongovernmental associations formed to coordinate the U.S. accreditation process for higher education. In 1974, the Federation of Regional Accrediting Commissions of Higher Education (FRACHE; an association of regional accreditors) and the National Commission on Accrediting (an association of specialized and national accreditation agencies) had merged to form the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA), which had the purpose of ensuring the quality of accreditation.

In 1993, COPA was dissolved because of tensions among the different types of accreditation agencies that formed its membership—ultimately the result of the increasing problems for higher education in the 1980s and 1990s.[5] Problems with tuition increases, scandals, and doubts about the value of postsecondary higher education plagued all parts of the higher education sector.[6]

In particular, Congressional investigations of soaring student loan defaults and student aid abuses were highly critical of the laxity of accreditation and accreditation processes.[7][8]

Consequently, the 1992 amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 included Program Integrity provisions designed to strengthen the gatekeeping triad for student loan guarantees and financial aid (i.e., state licensing bodies, accreditation associations, and Federal government). The higher education community viewed with alarm the establishment of State Postsecondary Review Entities (SPREs), which were given accrediting powers under special conditions. "When campus lobbyists heard about the legislation and realized that non-governmental accreditation was being replaced by a federal-state agency evaluation of institutions, including assessments of academic quality never before carried out by the government, they 'went apoplectic', as one observer put it."[9]

Early in 1993, the regional accreditors voted to leave COPA, indicating their dissatisfaction with COPA's political representation in the U.S. Congress, which representation was widely viewed as ineffective, particularly in regard to the new legislation establishing the SPREs. In April 1993, COPA voted to disband itself by the end of the year.[10]

Work by the National Policy Board on Higher Education Institutional Accreditation (NPB), and other groups laid the groundwork for a national successor to COPA. Among their concerns were establishing a more grassroots membership, billing and fees, and advisory role of the accrediting associations, improving the public image of accrediting, and improving the ability to lobby the Federal government.[11][12][13]

CHEA's immediate predecessor was the Council for Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation (CORPA), which was formed following the dissolution of COPA.[14] CHEA grandfathered in those accrediting associations recognized by COPA, provided that more than half the institutions that they accredited granted degrees.[15]

Discover more about History related topics

Higher education accreditation in the United States

Higher education accreditation in the United States

Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member institutions. It was first undertaken in the late 19th century by cooperating educational institutions, on a regional basis.

Higher Education Act of 1965

Higher Education Act of 1965

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University, his alma mater, as the signing site. The law was intended "to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education". It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Corps. The "financial assistance for students" is covered in Title IV of the HEA.

United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members.

Information resources

Each accreditor recognized by CHEA is independent, which means that accreditation requirements vary from group to group. CHEA maintains a website that contains a searchable database to check the accreditation status of recognized accreditation agencies, accredited schools, or schools currently in the process of getting accreditation (i.e., "candidates" for accreditation).[16] CHEA's "user agreement for publications of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation" states that it does not guarantee that all accredited schools are listed in the database.

In 2012 CHEA launched the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG) to advance understanding of international quality assurance and to promote high-quality higher education through international accreditation bodies worldwide.[17] The CIQG provides a database of recognized accreditation agencies globally.[17] It is a non-profit, non-governmental association focused on U.S. and non-U.S. accreditation and higher education quality assurance worldwide.[17]

Board of directors

CHEA is led by a board of directors that consists of 20 members, including presidents of colleges and universities, other institutional representatives, and members of the public.[1] As of 2022, Gena Glickman, Ph.D., President Emerita of Manchester Community College, is the chair of the CHEA Board of Directors.

The staff president of CHEA is Cynthia Jackson-Hammond.

Viewpoints

CHEA has voiced opposition to various accreditation reform efforts by the U.S. Department of Education.[18]

The organization faces challenges in helping the public to better understand accreditation in the U.S.,[19] and distinguish between the recognition of accrediting agencies conducted by the U.S. Secretary of Education, and those recognized by private nongovernmental associations, such as CHEA.[20]

Relationship to government

CHEA recognition of accreditors differs from the recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education, required for Title IV (HEA) student financial aid eligibility and loan guarantees.[21]

For the purpose of state government oversight of higher education, the state of Oregon authorizes accreditation organizations recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA to operate in the state. However, organizations that are recognized by CHEA and not also by the Department of Education may operate only with oversight from the Oregon Student Assistance Commission.[22]

CHEA wishes to prevent European-style ministry-based administration of higher education accreditation in the U.S.[18][23]

Source: "Council for Higher Education Accreditation", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, August 9th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Higher_Education_Accreditation.

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Further Reading

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs

Accreditation Service for International Colleges

Apollos University

Morthland College

Charisma University
See also
References
  1. ^ a b "CHEA at a Glance" (PDF). Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011.
  2. ^ CHEA website. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  3. ^ International Affairs Office, U.S. Department of Education 12/2007 page 2 "INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION" https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/accred-postsec.doc
  4. ^ INQAAHE Website http://www.inqaahe.org/council-higher-education-accreditation
  5. ^ Bloland, Harland G. (2001). "Chapter 3, The Mounting Threat to Higher Education's Pragmatic and Moral Legitimacy". Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Oryx Press. pp. 33–43. ISBN 9781573562331.
  6. ^ Cook, Constance Ewing (1998). "Challenges in the Early 1990s". Lobbying for Higher Education: How Colleges and Universities Influence Federal Policy. Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 34–44. ISBN 9780826513175.
  7. ^ "U.S. Senate, Abuses in Federal Student Aid Programs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Governmental Affairs" (PDF). Eric.ed.gov. May 17, 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2010.
  8. ^ Bloland, Harland G. (2001). Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. page 182.
  9. ^ Constance Ewing Cook, Lobbying for Higher Education: How Colleges and Universities Influence Federal Policy (1998), The Story of the State Postsecondary Review Entities, pages 44-51. The quotation here is from page 47.
  10. ^ Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Chapter 3, and page 39.
  11. ^ Harland G. Bloland, Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (2001)
  12. ^ Atwell, Robert; Rogers, James T. (October 1994). "Independence, Accreditation, and the Public Interest, Special Report on Accreditation" (PDF). National Policy Board on Higher Education Institutional Accreditation (NBP). Eric.ed.gov.
  13. ^ Jane Wellman: Recognition of Accreditation Organizations: A Comparison of Policy & Practice of Voluntary Accreditation and The United States Department of Education CHEA January 1998
  14. ^ Wellman, Jane (January 1998). "Recognition of Accreditation Organizations: A Comparison of Policy & Practice of Voluntary Accreditation and The United States Department of Education" (PDF). Chea.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  15. ^ Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, page 183.
  16. ^ "CHEA Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized US Accrediting Organizations". Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Retrieved October 1, 2006. (You must accept the license agreement to see the source text.)
  17. ^ a b c "Home - Council for Higher Education Accreditation". www.chea.org.
  18. ^ a b "Resolution of the Board of Directors" (PDF). Washington D. C.: Council for Higher Education Accreditation. May 7, 2007.
  19. ^ CHEA website [www.chea.org]
  20. ^ Wellman, Jane (January 1998). "Recognition of Accreditation Organizations: A Comparison of Policy & Practice of Voluntary Accreditation and The United States Department of Education" (PDF). pp. 3–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2010. See also, Harland G. Bloland, Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (2001), page 181.
  21. ^ Schray, Vickie. "Assuring Quality in Higher Education: Key Issues and Questions for Changing Accreditation in the United States, Issue Paper, The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education (Fourth in a series of Issue Papers released at the request of Chairman Charles Miller to inform the work of the Commission)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Education, Washington D.C. p. 3.
  22. ^ "583-070-0002, Oversight of Post-Secondary Accrediting Bodies". Oregon Administrative Rules. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  23. ^ Eaton, Judith S. (March 24, 2008). "The Future of Accreditation?". Insidehighered.com.
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