Cognia is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that accredits primary and secondary schools throughout 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 ...

and internationally.

History

Cognia was formed as AdvancED in 2006 by the consolidation of the pre-college divisions of two of the U.S.

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member ins ...

organizations: the Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement of the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...

, and the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement of the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

. In 2012 the

Northwest Accreditation Commission The Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), formerly named the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, is a non-governmental organization that provides Educationalaccreditation, accreditation to educational institutions in the Northwes ...

joined AdvancED. AdvancED merged with Measured Progress in 2018 and the organization rebranded as Cognia in 2019. Cognia has standards and processes that conform to conditions specific to Charter School Authorizers, Corporations, Digital Learning, Early Learning, Education Service Agencies, Postsecondary Schools, Special Purpose, and Systems.

Membership

Cognia reported that it served more than 36,000 institutions globally with a total of 25 million students and 1 million educators in about 80 counties.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2006 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 2006 School accreditors