Regional Accreditation

Regional accreditation is a type of institutional accreditation that refers to accrediting the whole institution.

There are six regional accreditors that cover the whole of the United States. Each accreditor covers a certain region of states.

Regional accreditors seem to enjoy the strongest credibility. This is probably because they are big, recognizable, and have been around for such a long time.

Therefore, there tends to be higher confidence in regional accreditation among other regional accreditors as well as among employers and the government.

Below is a list of each regional accrediting organization and the states they cover...

• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS)
  Established: 1919, Location: Pennsylvania, Web: www.msche.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), Pennsylvania (PA), Washington DC
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
  Established: 1885, Location: Massachusetts, Web: www.neasc.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  Connecticut (CT), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), New Hampshire (NH), Rhode Island (RI), Vermont (VT)
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS)
  Established: 1895, Location: Illinois, Web: www.ncahlc.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  Arizona (AZ), Arkansas (AR), Colorado (CO), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO), Nebraska (NE), New Mexico (NM), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH),Oklahoma (OK), South Dakota (SD), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
  Established: 1917, Location: Washington, Web: www.nwccu.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  Alaska (AK), Idaho (ID), Montana (MT), Nevada (NV), Oregon (OR), Utah (UT), Washington (WA)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
  Established: 1912, Location: Georgia, Web: www.sacscoc.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  Alabama (AL), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Virginia (VA)
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
  Established: 1962, Location: California, Web: www.wascsenior.org
  Accredits colleges and universities in the following states:
  California (CA), Hawaii (HI)

See the Regional Accreditation Map below for a visual representation of which institutions accredit in which state.