For the Public

New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a non-profit, non-governmental membership organization. It relies on its members’ self-regulation, voluntary compliance with the Standards for Accreditation and a system of ongoing evaluation by peers. The Commission’s goal is to promote institutional improvement and public assurance of quality.

The Commission accredits a wide variety of institutions with different missions. Each institution is evaluated according to the Standards in light of its unique mission.

In applying the Standards, the Commission assesses the effectiveness of the institution as a whole. The Commission recognizes that some aspects of an institution are always stronger than others. Meeting the Standards does not guarantee the quality of individual programs, courses, or graduates, but serious weaknesses in a particular area may threaten the institution’s accreditation.

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What the Commission Discloses

The Commission understands that prospective students, their families, and members of the general public need information to make good decisions. The Commission provides information about the accreditation status of each institution (including for institutions on probation, the reasons for the probationary status), and its reviews of member and candidate institutions. That information is available on this website under “About Our Institutions.”

What Institutions Disclose

The Standards for Accreditation require that affiliated institutions make critical information readily available to the public in print and on their websites:

  • Institutional mission
  • Status as public or independent; not-for-profit or for-profit
  • Any religious affiliation
  • Educational goals
  • Academic programs offered
  • Faculty, their department or program affiliation and degrees (both full-time and part-time)
  • Names and positions of administrative officers
  • Names and principal affiliations of Board members
  • Programs and services available at other locations
  • Programs, courses, services, and personnel not available in a given academic year
  • Degree requirements
  • Requirements and procedures for admission
  • Procedures for withdrawing from the institution
  • Size and characteristics of student body
  • Description of the campus setting and institutional learning and physical resources available
  • Transfer credit policies
  • List of institutions with which there are articulation agreements
  • Student fees, charges, and refund policies
  • Rules and regulations for student conduct
  • Procedures for student appeals and complaints
  • Academic policies
  • Retention and graduation rates
  • Licensure examination passage rates
  • Mission-appropriate measures of student success
  • Total cost of education, net price, availability of financial aid, and typical length of study
  • Expected student debt on graduation
  • Cohort default rates and loan repayment rates
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Regional Accreditation Overview

California, Hawaii, the Territories of Guam and American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
President:Mac Powell
Contact Information:428 J Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95814
415-506-0234
http://www.accjc.org
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
President:Barbara Gellman-Danley
Contact Information:230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604
800-621-7440
http://www.hlcommission.org
Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other geographical areas across the United States and internationally.
President:Heather F. Perfetti
Contact Information:1007 North Orange, 4th Floor, MB #166, Wilmington, DE 19801
267-284-5000
http://www.msche.org
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, internationally, and other Commission approved states.
President:Lawrence Schall
Contact Information:301 Edgewater Place, Suite 210, Wakefield, MA 01880
781-425-7785
https://neche.org
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and British Columbia, along with other domestic and international geographic areas.
President:Sonny Ramaswamy
Contact Information:8060 115th Street, N.E., Suite 100, Redmond, WA 90852
425-558-4224
http://www.nwccu.org
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Latin America, and other Commission approved international sites.
President:Belle S. Wheelan
Contact Information:1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033
404-679-4512
http://www.sacscoc.org
California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the Republic of Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and other Commission approved states and international sites.
President:Jamienne S. Studley
Contact Information:533 Airport Blvd., Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010
650-696-1060
http://www.wscuc.org

Value of Accreditation

Accreditation is an activity long accepted in the United States but unknown in many other countries that rely on governmental supervision and control of educational institutions.

The record of accomplishment and outstanding success in the education of Americans can be traced in large part to the reluctance of the United States to impose governmental restrictions on institutions of postsecondary education, and to the success of the voluntary American system of accreditation in promoting quality without inhibiting innovation.

The high proportion of Americans benefiting from higher education, the reputation of universities in the United States for both fundamental and applied research, and the wide-spread availability of professional services in the United States all testify to postsecondary education of high quality, and to the success of the accreditation system which the institutions and professions of the United States have devised to promote that quality.

The Value of Accreditation, developed by regional, national and programmatic accrediting organizations and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, is available here.