CERTIFICATION

The Council of Private Colleges of America is a certification agency that establishes operating standards for educational or professional institutions and programs in US states, territories and internationally where it is feasible to do so.  The CPCA determines the extent to which the standards are met, and publicly announces their findings.  Certification with the Council of Private Colleges of America includes quality peer review, certification Facilitator Team visits, verifying data to CPCA standards for educational or professional institutions and programs which are similar to accreditation.

CPCA certification requires affirmation of compliance with the academic excellence standards of the CPCA patterned after our early historical United States educational institutions of higher learning. CPCA standards equal or exceed the minimum standards of many State Departments of Education.

How Certification Differs from Accreditation

How do accreditation and certification differ?  Accreditation is essentially a statement of approval.  In the United States, if it is to be meaningful, it must come from an independent association having attained its own approval from the United States Department of Education (USDE).

In the US, the government does not accredit schools.  However, the USDE is in the business of approving the associations which do accredit schools (for the purpose of serving as gate keepers for Title IV Funding).  This point must be understood in order to properly understand accreditation.  Title IV Funding is the nearly 80 billion dollar congressionally approved annual money stream that flows from taxpayers to educational institutions that are accredited by an agency approved by USDE.

The reason that USDE approves accrediting agencies is to assure control over the flow of Title IV Funds.  The greater part of accreditation requirements is geared toward satisfying the USDE mandated standards that are specifically designed to regulate the huge taxpayer investment in higher education.

Accrediting associations in the U.S. are not required to seek USDE recognition, but without it, the value of such accreditation may be questionable, and schools they accredit are not eligible to receive Title IV Funds.  That is why schools promoting accreditation from sources not approved by the USDE are considered "unaccredited.”

Certification is also essentially a statement of approval, but significantly different from accreditation in several important ways.  Most importantly, certification is not tied to Title IV Funding.  Only USDE recognized accreditation qualifies institutions to receive such funding.  Certification is not the same as accreditation because certification criteria is not geared toward satisfying the requirements for Title IV Funding.  This is one of the reasons that certifying agencies are not as well known, and their value not as readily understood.

Legitimate certification is similar to legitimate accreditation in that it also involves voluntary peer review through private agencies accountable to their constituents, but not to the federal government since Title IV Funding is not involved.  Much of the misunderstanding that arises between the two is due to the lack of consumer awareness and the generally held, though false belief, that accreditation is the only standard for academic legitimacy.

Furthermore, certification is a term more often associated with professions.  For example, there are certified professionals in banking, insurance, medicine, and in many other areas.  Of course, the term "accredited" is also used in many of these situations.  For example, an organization may be an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau. This is because the two terms often serve as synonyms. However, when it comes to higher education, accreditation is tied to Title IV Funding and certification is not.

Certification is an excellent  vehicle for achieving academic legitimacy, especially for faith-based educational institutions with no desire or need to seek accreditation for the purpose of qualifying for Title IV Funding.  In fact, within higher education circles, it is understood that not all higher education institutions actually need USDE recognized accreditation as is evidenced in the following quotes.

This quote is from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).  "There are institutions that may not be accredited but are not degree mills. For example, the institution may be seeking accreditation, but the process is not complete. Or a legitimate institution may choose not to be accredited for reasons that do not relate to quality."

This quote from the United States Department of Education also makes the point. "It should be noted that some institutions have chosen not to participate in the federal student aid program and therefore do not have to be approved by an accrediting agency recognized by the Department. While these institutions do not appear on the Department's list, they may be legitimate schools."

A former executive director of the Association for Biblical Higher Education (an accrediting agency recognized by the USDE), stated that "There are hundreds of Bible Colleges and Seminaries in the United States and Canada that are offering good solid theological training, yet they are not accredited.  This would be the case with our Affiliate institutions that take advantage of the programs and services that we offer."

Therefore, along with our currently certified member institutions, both unaccredited and accredited faith-based institutions of higher learning are encouraged to consider the many benefits of CPCA certification.  Click HERE to request information.
 

Certification Levels & Certified Institutions

 

CPCA CANDIDATE STATUS

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CPCA CERTIFIED – 5 YEAR STATUS

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