Accreditation

This issue of the Journal of Higher Education focuses on accreditation, a process integrally related to postsecondary education. From the manuscripts submitted, an issue that offers a variety of perspectives on accreditation has been developed. Millard, Proffitt, Conway, and Young address the respective roles of the educational triad-the states; the federal government, and accrediting agencies and their national coordinating body, the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA). Pfnister reviews three recent publications: a summary of the current status of the regional accrediting agencies, an analysis of the current debate on accreditation versus eligibility, and a discussion of a variety of issues on accreditation in general and federal-accrediting agency relations in particular. Hall assesses the effect of the accreditation experience on nontraditional institutions and programs and the impact of the accreditation of nontraditional institutions on the accrediting agencies and higher education generally. Kells examines the people-related aspects of the institutional accrediting process, citing changes by one regional accrediting commission over a seven-year period in the characteristics of evaluation team members and the coordination of the on-site visit. Macpherson recounts the experience of a program accrediting agency in developing a mandated self-study process for its members, validating its value, and establishing costs. Miller and Boswell deal with the important task of evaluating extrainstitutional learning. Troutt offers a perspective from outside the accrediting community in a review of the accreditation criteria of six regional accrediting associations.