The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) is a private,
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
that provides national
accreditation
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
to
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
post-secondary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
al institutions. It is recognized by the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
as an independent accrediting agency. Established in 1965,
it is based in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
.
The U.S. Department of Education identifies the scope of ACCSC recognition as the accreditation of private post-secondary institutions offering non-degree programs or
associate,
bachelor's
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...
and master's degrees in programs that are "predominantly organized to educate students for occupational, trade and technical careers, and institutions that offer programs via distance education."
Accreditation in the United States: Regional and National Institutional Accrediting Agencies
. ''U.S. Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
''. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
In 2021, the accrediting agency received a 3-year renewal from the
(NACIQI).
ACCSC reports that it is "the institutional accrediting body for over 650 post-secondary, trade and technical schools that provide education to over 150,000 students." NACIQI, reports that ACCSC "currently oversees 370 institutions that receive a total of $2.76 billion per year in Title IV funds."
Involvement in US Homeland Security Operations
The
University of Northern New Jersey
The University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) was a fake university created and maintained by the United States Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016 to investigate student visa fraud. It claimed to be based in Cranford, New Jersey, wi ...
, which claimed to have been accredited by the commission, never actually offered any classes. The University of Northern New Jersey was actually a front organization used by federal investigators to trap individuals engaged in
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
visa fraud
Visa fraud has different criteria in various parts of the world but the commonly accepted points are the sale, provision, or transfer of otherwise legitimate visas, misrepresentation of reasons for traveling and forgery or alteration of a visa.
...
.
[Robbins, Liz (April 6, 2016).]
New Jersey University Was Fake, but Visa Fraud Arrests Are Real
. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 13, 2019. The
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
of the ACCSC stated that it had listed the University of Northern New Jersey as being accredited on its website in order to cooperate with the federal investigation.
[Robbins, Liz (May 5, 2016).]
Students at Fake University Say They Were Collateral Damage in Sting Operation
. ''The New York Times''.
The
University of Farmington
The University of Farmington was a fake university set up in 2015 in Michigan by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to expose student visa fraud in the United States. The sting operation, whic ...
was another front organization used by federal investigators to trap individuals engaged in student visa fraud.
[Warikoo, Niraj (November 27, 2019).]
ICE arrests 90 more students at fake university in Michigan
. ''The Detroit Free Press''. Federal prosecutors said that over 600 students enrolled at the University of Farmington only to obtain a visa to the United States and not to actually study. The ACCSC also listed the University of Farmington as having been accredited.
Student outcomes
At the NACIQI meeting for ACCSC in July 2021,
Third Way
The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...
reported that "40 percent of all ACCSC institutions enrolled low-income students who were failing to earn as much as a high school graduate even 10 years after enrollment."
Government scrutiny
Three ACCSC clients, The
Center for Excellence in Higher Education
The Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE) was a Utah-based company that owned and managed Independence University, CollegeAmerica, Stevens-Henager College, and California College San Diego before their abrupt closings in August 2021 ...
(owner of
Independence University
Independence University (IU, formerly California College for Health Sciences) was a private online career college headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the online branch of Stevens–Henager College, and operated four schools: the School ...
),
Vatterott College
Vatterott College was a for-profit career training institute with programs at 16 campuses across the Midwest of the United States and online. It was operated by Vatterott Educational Centers, Inc., owned by the private equity firm TA Associates. ...
, and Premier Education Group have faced government investigations.
See also
*
References
External links
*
Educational organizations based in the United States
School accreditors
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