The largest accrediting organisation in USA, ACICS was founded in 1912 as a non profit. Their mission, as Anthony Beida, director of external affairs, ACICS, states is to advance educational excellence at independent, non-public schools, colleges, and organisations in the United States and abroad. They accredit professional, technical and occupational programmes. They are recognised by both the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
The council
Experts in the council include experienced academicians from various universities and personnel from other education houses in the US. “One can also become an evaluator at ACICS. An evaluator is either a member or public. Anyone affiliated with an ACICS-accredited institution will be a member and those who are not affiliated will be called public,” says Bieda. Evaluation team members will be granted an honourarium after the accreditation process is complete.
Criteria
Colleges and schools accredited by the council are required to meet and maintain high standards of faculty qualifications, student retention and placements. This is achieved through a deliberate and thorough accreditation process of quality assurance and enhancement as well as ethical business and educational practices. Accreditation is a voluntary activity initiated by the institution that requires a rigorous self-evaluation and an independent, objective appraisal of the overall educational quality by peers. “To help institutions and peer evaluators meet their responsibilities in conducting the process, the council has developed and periodically revised a set of policies, procedures, and standards governing the activity,” says Bieda.
Process
An institute should first send an initial application to the council, after which the institutions should complete an Annual Institutional Report. This report will consist of important data such as overall enrollment at the institution, retention of students, and placements of graduates. Once the application is done, an ACICS staff member will conduct an initial resource visit. Also, the institute needs to do a self-evaluation study. ACICS also conducts an Accreditation Workshop, which will give an overview on the process and evaluation procedures. The self-study coordinator of the institute must have attended the workshop before he submits a report. After submission of documents, ACICS will send a team to evaluate the institution. Then a team report is prepared, which will then be reviewed by experts in the Intermediate Review Committee.
Colleges accredited
More than 970 institutions throughout USA and more than a dozen foreign colleges have been accredited by ACICS. The Stratford University in Delhi has been accredited by ACICS. Other institutes include Academy College, Minnesota and American National University.
Accreditation standards
ACICS accredited schools are required to maintain rigorous standards of educational excellence. “Colleges and schools are specifically required to maintain strong student retention and job placement performance as a condition of accreditation,” says Bieda. ACICS also adopted student achievement standards at both campus-level and programme-level in December 2011. Compliance standards are intended to ensure that a substantial majority of students at accredited campuses are retained, pass licensure exams where applicable, and find employment related to their fields. A campus whose rates fall below the compliance standard must come into compliance within established timeframes or accreditation may be withdrawn. For details, visit www.acics.org/default.aspx.