Chapter 2  Choosing a Distance Education Provider: Asking the Right Questions

In the United States, accreditation is a process used by higher education to evaluate colleges, universities, and educational programs for quality and to assess their efforts toward continuous quality improvement.   

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) provides a number of resources to help answer questions concerning accreditation, how accreditation works, the different types of accrediting agencies, directories of accredited institutions in the United States and in other countries, and more. Some selected links are highlighted here:

Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
http://www.chea.org

List of all accrediting organizations recognized by CHEA or the U.S. Department of Education or both (http://www.chea.org/pdf/CHEA_USDE_AllAccred.pdf), including:

• the six regional accreditation associations (http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp)

• faith-based accrediting organizations (http://www.chea.org/Directories/faith.asp)

• private career accrediting organizations (http://www.chea.org/Directories/faith.asp)

• specialized/professional accrediting associations (http://www.chea.org/Directories/special.asp)

List of frequently asked questions and helpful links concerning degree mills and accreditation mills:  http://www.chea.org/degreemills/default.htm.

Directory of accrediting organizations and quality assurance agencies in other countries
http://www.chea.org/intdb/quality-assurance.asp

List of accrediting agencies recognized for distance education, provided by the Financial Aid office of the U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg11.html#Distance

U.S. Department of Education’s database of Postsecondary Educational Institutions and Programs Accredited by Accrediting Agencies and State Approval Agencies Recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education
www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

The Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA) is a web-based directory of postsecondary institutions that voluntarily subscribe to the HETA directory and provide information concerning institutional transfer policies and practices.
http://www.chea.org/HETA/