Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Last updated

Council for Higher Education Accreditation
AbbreviationCHEA
Established1996
HeadquartersOne Dupont Circle NW, Suite 510, Washington, D.C., U.S.
President
Cynthia Jackson Hammond
Key people
Dottie King, Board Chair
Website chea.org

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is an American organization of degree-granting colleges and universities based in Washington D.C.

Contents

It advocates for the quality of higher education accrediting organizations, including regional, faith-based, private, career, and programmatic accrediting organizations. [1]

CHEA's members include accredited colleges and universities, and currently recognizes approximately 64 accrediting organizations. [2] It is a member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education. [3] [4]

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 and the National Commission on Accrediting merged to form the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA). In 1993, COPA was dissolved because of internal tensions caused by 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 increasing student loan defaults and student aid abuses were highly critical 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). State Postsecondary Review Entities (SPREs) were also established, giving federal bodies accrediting powers under special conditions, something which had never been done before. [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 was widely viewed as ineffective, particularly regarding the establishment of 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 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 roles for 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, 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]

Information resources

Each accreditor recognized by CHEA is independent, meaning 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. [16]

In 2012, CHEA launched the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG), which provides a database of recognized accreditation agencies globally. [17]

Board of directors

CHEA is led by a board of directors consisting of 20 members, including presidents of colleges and universities, other institutional representatives, and members of the public. [1] As of 2025, Dottie King, President of Independent Colleges of Indiana, is the chair of the CHEA Board of Directors.

The staff president of CHEA is Cynthia Jackson Hammond. [18]

Viewpoints

CHEA has voiced opposition to various accreditation reform efforts by the U.S. Department of Education. [19] [ non-primary source needed ]

The organization faces challenges in helping the public to better understand accreditation in the U.S., [20] [ weasel words ] and to 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. [21] [22]

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. [23]

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 but not also the Department of Education may operate only with oversight from the Oregon Student Assistance Commission. [24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "CHEA at a Glance" (PDF). Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Council for Higher Education Accreditation". chea.org. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  3. ↑ International Affairs Office, U.S. Department of Education (December 2007), International accreditation, p. 2
  4. ↑ "Council for Higher Education Accreditation". Barcelona: International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017.
  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. ↑ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate (May 17, 1991). Abuses in federal student aid programs (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Report 102-58, ERIC   ED332631.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, p. 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.
  10. ↑ Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Chapter 3, and page 39
  11. ↑ Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
  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, p. 183
  16. ↑ "Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized U.S. Accrediting Organizations". Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Council for Higher Education Accreditation". chea.org.
  18. ↑ "Interview to Dr. Jackson-Hammond, President of CHEA". International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Resolution of the Board of Directors" (PDF). Washington D. C.: Council for Higher Education Accreditation. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Council for Higher Education Accreditation". chea.org.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ See also, Bloland, Harland G. (2001), Creating the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, p. 181
  23. ↑ Schray, Vickie (March 30, 2006). Assuring Quality in Higher Education: Key Issues and Questions for Changing Accreditation in the United States (PDF) (Report). Washington D.C.: The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, U.S. Department of Education. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2006.
  24. ↑ "583-070-0002, Oversight of Post-Secondary Accrediting Bodies". Oregon Administrative Rules. Retrieved August 27, 2013.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.