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Regional accreditation is the educational accreditation of schools, colleges, and universities in the United States by one of six regional accrediting agencies. Accreditation, technically a voluntary process, is a means by which colleges demonstrate to each other, and sometimes to employers and licensing agencies, that their credits and degrees meet minimum standards. It is the self-regulation of the higher education industry. Each regional accreditor oversees the vast majority of public and private educational institutions, both not-for-profit and for-profit, in its region. Their primary function is accreditation of post-secondary institutions, though there is a limited amount of accredition of primary and secondary schools.〔(Statement of Commitment by the Regional Accrediting Commissions for the Evaluation of Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs ), retrieved from University of Hawaii website, June 19, 2011. "The eight regional accrediting commissions ... assure the quality of the great majority of degree-granting institutions of higher learning in the United States." (Page i)〕〔Catherine Finnegan, (Aligning Information Technology with Academic Standards ), ''Educause Center for Applied Research Research Bulletin'', volume 2006, Issue 10, May 9, 2006. "Regional acceditors include among their membership nearly all community colleges and public and private colleges universities in the region that they serve." (Page 2)〕〔Janice M. Karlen, (Accreditation and Assessment in Distance Learning ), ''Academic Leadership: The Online Journal'', Volume 1, Issue 4, Fall 2003 (November 2003). "Most institutions rely upon one of the eight regional accreditation organizations for their accreditation status."〕 While it might seem that national accreditation would be more important than regional accreditation, this is, in general, not the case. Regional accreditation is much older, and (with a few exceptions) more prestigious, than national accreditation. Most non-profit institutions are regionally, not nationally, accredited. National accreditation is legitimate in some specific subject areas, such as nursing or car repair. ==List of regional accreditors== The following are the regional accrediting agencies for educational institutions in the United States:〔(Regional Accrediting Organizations 2010-2011 ), Council for Higher Education Accreditation, accessed June 19, 2011〕〔(Regionally Accredited Colleges/Universities ), State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, accessed June 19, 2011〕 * Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as schools for American children in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. * New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont). * Higher Learning Commission, formerly part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools〔https://www.ncahlc.org/About-the-Commission/about-hlc.html〕 - Educational institutions in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming. *Northwest Accreditation Commission for primary and secondary schools and Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) for postsecondary institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. * Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. * Western Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, Palau, and Northern Marianas Islands, as well as schools for American children in Asia. Each regional agency has full accrediting authority for both grade schools (primary and secondary) and colleges (postsecondary), with the exception of the northwestern region, for which responsibility is divided between two separate accreditation agencies (Northwest Accreditation Commission for primary and secondary schools and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities for colleges and universities).〔http://www.nwccu.org/About/History/NWCCU%20History.htm〕〔http://www.northwestaccreditation.org/our-history〕 The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation list a total of eight regional accreditation entities as recognized for higher education accreditation. Except for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and the Higher Learning Commission, these are subdivisions within the regional agencies:〔(Recognized Accrediting Organizations ), Council for Higher Education Accreditation website, dated May 2011, accessed June 19, 2011.〕 * The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a component of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools * Two subdivisions of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges: the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and the Commission on Technical and Career Institutions * The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges * Two subdivisions of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges: the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「regional accreditation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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