As of May, 2010 accreditation is
still a voluntary unregulated function of both government approved
and governmentally unapproved agencies. There are no laws governing
accreditation in the USA. Those accreditors meeting GAAP standards
are those Regional and National bodies that are approved by the
United States Government/ Secretary of Education or CHEA.
Unfortunately there are accrediting
agencies which are little more than accreditation mills that provide
a certificate of accreditation for a fee and then provide little or
no evaluation or have no ongoing programs for follow up evaluations
and reporting by colleges and universities that have received their
accreditation certificate.
However there are also a few legitimate
organizations and associations such as IACEA that provide stringent standards and do a thorough
evaluation of colleges and universities, Bible colleges,
seminaries and Christian schools who seek to improve their educational standards and
institutional integrity. Such governmentally
non-recognized providers of educational quality recognition,
encourage and support compliance with quality educational standards and institutional
professionalism through ongoing evaluations and
reporting, for continuous improvement in educational curriculum and
institutional integrity.
The
problem is that government recognized accreditation is exorbitantly
expensive which results in complying colleges and universities
having student expenses as high as $100,000 or more, in tuitions, costs and fees for a
4-year degree. This restricts many of the less financially
privileged, from enrolling in the BIG
colleges and universities that hold governmentally approved accreditation.
However, Colleges and Universities that choose to hold accreditation from
governmentally non-recognized accrediting bodies or Christian educational
accountability organizations
and educational ministry membership associations like IACEA, are
thus enabled through financial feasibility to meet a huge need in
providing education to the masses at up to 80% or even 90% in
financial savings when compared with the BIG colleges and universities that hold Regional or National
accreditation under approval of the government/ secretary of
education/CHEA.
Report from Business Week Magazine
November, 2008
Private College
costs are again on the rise.
According to a College Board report released on Oct. 29, the average
published cost of annual tuition, costs and fees at private
four-year colleges are: $25,143 per year, up 5.9% from last year.
*That
equates to $100,572 over four years.
*IACEA note added:
*In addition: Public College
tuitions, costs and fees are averaging up to $50,000 for a 4-year
degree, compared to just $2,000 to $10,000 for quality,
governmentally unrecognized degree programs.
This represents a savings of up to 90% for public
colleges and up to 98% for private colleges over the total costs of
attending governmentally approved (private & public) BIG colleges and
universities.
Non-governmentally
recognized schools are those who have non-governmentally
recognized accreditation. However, non-governmentally recognized college and
university credits are often accepted in transfer to governmentally
approved colleges and universities. The major difference between
governmentally approved and non-governmentally recognized colleges and
universities is that colleges and universities not recognized by the
government, do not qualify for student loans. But, when a student
can save up to 90% on tuition, costs and fees, there is no
need for a student loan anyway.
IACEA is not and does not claim to be a governmentally approved accrediting body.
As a Biblical alternative to secular accreditation, IACEA is an international
educational ministry association for Christian educational accountability
composed of hundreds of member institutions worldwide. As a
ministry, our board of Christian institution leaders,
evaluate and advise Christian education institutions concerning effective measures that result in
improved Christian education standards of quality and integrity
for member educational
institutions. In
view of the new legislation being proposed as H.R 4535 choosing
to sever ties with non governmentally approved creditors and becoming
an approved member of IACEA, as an alternative to secular accreditation, may be a wise decision for many
colleges, universities, Bible colleges and seminaries.
As a ministry: IACEA is
focused on
providing stability, integrity, and improved educational program
quality and standards through ongoing education, evaluation and accountability for
Christian educational institutions, better
enabling them to provide quality education to the masses who
otherwise could not afford such quality Christian education.
There is new
*legislation being proposed as of May, 2010. Bill H.R.
4535 seeks to define accrediting Mills as any accreditation that is not
approved by the government/ secretary of education or CHEA. Furthermore the new
*legislation seeks to
label all colleges and universities that do not have governmentally
approved accreditation as Diploma Mills. The same legislation gives
the FTC a limited amount of time to develop and enforce laws against
what the government is defining as accreditation mills and degree
mills. Under the new proposed *legislation a college or university
that requires students to complete full credit hours and qualified
courses for degree awards will still be labeled a Diploma Mill just
because they have non-governmentally approved
accreditation from what the government would define as a
Accreditation Mill.
*Christian
institutions remain protected by the First and Tenth amendments
of the U.S. Constitution and cannot be effected by the current
legislation.
This new legislation may result in the closure of many non
governmentally approved secular colleges and universities. In turn this
would do injury to potentially millions of Americans over the years
to come, who would be deprived of education, because they cannot
afford to pay $40,000 to $100,000 for a 4- year degree program.
In accord with the
constitution of the United States, a Christian education
related institution cannot be
dictated to or controlled by the government/ secretary of
education CHEA, (or) any law, in regard to Christian education based degree
programs.
The Constitution of the United States
R1 Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
IACEA
Note: *The above is
the Constitutional amendment that allows any Church, school, college,
university, Bible college, seminary, ministry or religious
entity in the form of an religious/ ministry/ Christian
educational organization or association, that
would support Christian education through teaching and
preaching, providing Christian educational courses and degree
programs or even supporting through evaluating such Christian educational institutions
for improving standards through compliance, to operate freely without governmental
oversight or hindrance through legislation prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.
Concerning Secular/ Academic Colleges and
Universities which become Christian education institutions.
In the United States of America,
most of our nation's first colleges and universities, such as:
Harvard and Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Rutgers, Vassar,
Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke etc. began as Christian colleges and
universities offering Christian education. Harvard began in 1636
and was founded for training in the Gospel ministry. Harvard's
charter in 1650 stated that the university was established for
the purposes of educating the English and Indian youth in
knowledge and Godliness. Harvard's' motto
was " Christo et Ecclesiae."
Our U.S. Constitution provides that
NO law shall be made prohibiting such free expression regarding
religious education.
One of our goals is to
secure the future for not just legitimate Bible colleges and
seminaries and Christian schools but also for legitimate secular colleges and
universities would add a Christian education curriculum and offer inexpensive tuitions for the masses who
enroll in Christian educational degree programs.
We intend
to insure that quality non-governmentally recognized Christian
education based degree programs are supported by a
legitimate international non governmentally influenced Christian
membership association. IACEA is such a membership
association with
hundreds of Christian education related, affiliate members worldwide.
All approved IACEA members
are allowed to display their approved membership certificate or
the IACEA LOGO signifying achievement of recognized
higher standards in Christian education, on the ACCREDITATION page of their
institution's website. Furthermore, such institutions can use,
promote, advertise and place our Logo along with a IACEA pre approved
statement regarding the institutions membership in IACEA which
denotes
fulfillment of higher standards of Christian educational and institutional
excellence through IACEA.
Void where
prohibited.
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