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Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Council of Higher Education Accreditation

The Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) serves higher education, students and the public through advocacy and leadership in assuring academic quality through accreditation. CHEA is a national advocate and institutional voice for promoting academic quality through accreditation, CHEA is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations. 

The accrediting organizations identified in the CHEA 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.

Additional Information

A national advocate and institutional voice for academic quality through accreditation, CHEA is a U.S. association of degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations. CHEA is the only national organization focused exclusively on higher education accreditation and quality assurance.

Recognition is the scrutiny and affirmation of the quality of regional, national career-related, national faith-related and programmatic accrediting organizations. CHEA is the only nongovernmental higher education organization in the United States that undertakes this scrutiny. The federal government, through the U.S. Department of Education, conducts governmental recognition reviews.

All accrediting organizations provide information to the public about the institutions and programs they accredit and when those institutions and programs have been reviewed. This is available on the accrediting organization’s website.