Accreditation
AGSE filed with Arizona’s Secretary of State to become the American Graduate School of Education and applied for a degree-granting license to the State of Arizona in September 2007. Approval was granted on February 28, 2008.
Our Accreditation Assures You a Quality Academic Program
American Graduate School of Education holds accreditation through the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (www.detc.org). The DETC is an educational association located in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1926, and has become the agency that sets the standard for all distance education institutions.
The Accrediting Commission of the DETC is listed by the United States Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency. The Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities as to the quality of education provided by the institutions of higher education.
An agency seeking recognition by the Secretary must meet the Secretary's procedures and criteria for the recognition of accrediting agencies. First recognized by the Department of Education in 1959, the DETC was most recently reviewed in 2001 as part of the normal evaluation process.
The Accrediting Commission of the DETC is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). CHEA is a private nonprofit national organization that coordinates accreditation activity in the United States. It carries forward a long tradition that recognition of accrediting organizations should be a key strategy to ensure quality, accountability, and improvement in higher education. Recognition by CHEA affirms that standards and processes of accrediting organizations are consistent with quality, improvement, and accountability expectations that CHEA has established.
We have had teachers in Arizona take professional development courses and use them to complete re-certification with AZ Department of Education. Additionally, we partnered with North Central Accreditation (a regional accrediting agency) to develop teacher training programs (references can be furnished) internationally. We have teachers representing 18 countries in our program.
What Is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a process to assure and improve higher education quality by giving public recognition to an institution that meets established standards of academic and administrative quality.
Why Is Accreditation Important?
Accreditation assures you, the student, that the institution operates on a sound financial basis, has approved programs of study, qualified instructors, adequate facilities, and approved policies. Additionally, accreditation is often required by employer sponsored tuition reimbursement programs and by other institutions when evaluating transfer credits.
Here are three quick steps to quickly "search" for accredited schools on the US Department of Education web site. Follow the steps below and enter out name and accreditation information will be displayed.
On the U S Department of Education web site they state that the Secretary of Education recognizes only one agency dedicated solely to accrediting distance education institutions, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC).
Enter http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ into your web browser
Click "Click here to begin your search"
Enter American Graduate School of Education and our name and address will appear.
If you still have questions about why accreditation is so important, please read The Value of Accreditation, by The Council for Higher Education Accreditation.