Regional Accrediting Organizations

Regional Accrediting Organizations

The accrediting organizations identified in this directory are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Recognition by CHEA affirms that the standards and processes of the accrediting organization are consistent with the academic quality, improvement and accountability expectations that CHEA has established, including the eligibility standard that the majority of institutions or programs each accredits are degree-granting.

Regional accrediting organizations by type.

Click here to download the complete Directory of CHEA Recognized Organizations as a pdf file.

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges

View ACCJC Profile

Mac Powell, President
428 J Street, Suite 400
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 415-506-0234
Fax: 415-506-0238
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.accjc.org
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2003

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
Associate degree-granting institutions, with authorization to approve career or technically oriented baccalaureate degrees, in colleges in 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. (2019)


Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

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Barbara Gellman-Danley, President
230 South LaSalle, Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604-1413
Phone: 312-263-0456
Fax: 312-263-7462
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://www.hlcommission.org/
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2003

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
Degree granting institutions of higher education incorporated in or operating under federal authority in, the United States; and that have a substantial presence, as defined elsewhere in HLC policy, in the United States. This includes degree granting institutions operating within federally authorized sovereign nations that are authorized (licensed) by the same any state within the United States or such federally authorized sovereign nation to award higher degrees (including associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees (both research and professional). (2021)


New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)

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Lawrence M. Schall, President of the Commission
301 Edgewater Place, Suite #210
Wakefield, MA 01880
Phone: 781-425-7714
Fax: 781-425-1001
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://www.neche.org
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, April 2002

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
The accreditation of institutions that award the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and associate's degree-granting institutions that include in their offerings at least one program in liberal studies or another area of study widely available at the baccalaureate level of regionally accredited colleges and universities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and internationally. (2013)


Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)

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Sonny Ramaswamy, President
8060 165th Avenue, Suite #100
Redmond, WA 98052
Phone: 452-558-4224
Fax: 425-376-0596
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.nwccu.org
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, May 2001

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
The accreditation and preaccreditation (“Candidacy status”) of postsecondary degree-granting educational institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and internationally, and the accreditation of programs offered via distance education within these institutions. (2019)


Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)

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Belle S. Wheelan, President
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033
Phone: 404-679-4500
Fax: 404-679-4528
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.sacscoc.org
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2003

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
Regional accrediting body for degree-granting institutions of higher education in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Latin America, and other Commission approved international sites, including the accreditation of programs offered via distance and correspondence education within these institutions. (2014)


WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

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Jamienne S. Studley, President
1080 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 500
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: 510-748-9001
Fax: 510-748-9797
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.wscuc.org
Initially recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2003

CHEA Recognized Scope of Accreditation
Institutions of higher education in the US and internationally that offer the baccalaureate degree or above. (2020)