The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based,
non-profit
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 ...
association that performed peer evaluation and regional
accreditation of public and private schools in the
Mid-Atlantic United States and certain foreign institutions of American origin. Prior to 2013, it comprised three separate commissions:
*
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
* Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools (MSCES)
* Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (MSCSS)
The higher education commission, MSCHE, and the other two commissions now operate independently. The MSCES and the MSCSS operate together as an organization sometimes known as the MSA-CESS. The accreditation of post-secondary schools by the MSCSS is limited to those that do not confer degrees or offer technical programs.
Region and scope
The "Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools" (M.S.A.-C.E.S.S.) accredits "nearly" 2600
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
and
private schools
An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...
and school systems throughout the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.
MSA-CESS website
retrieved August 15, 2021.
MSA used to accredit colleges and universities through its higher education commission. In 2013, that commission — the Middle States Commission on Higher Education — became a legally separate entity.
See also
*Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated and verified by an external body to determine whether applicable and recognized standards are met ...
*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 Departmen ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middle States Association Of Colleges And Schools
School accreditors
College and university associations and consortia in the United States
Educational organizations based in the United States