The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, also referred to as the Middle States Association or MSA, is an accreditor in the United States. Historically, it has accredited schools in the

Mid-Atlantic states The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...

region of the northeastern United States. The peer-based,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

association was founded in 1887. It is a voluntary organization that performs peer evaluation and regional

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

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 A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

(including parochial / religious-owned and independent secular schools). The association has two commissions, the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools (MSCES) and Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (MSCSS). A higher education commission, the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

(MSCHE), operates completely independently of the other two commissions. MSCSS also accredits some institutions that offer postsecondary education but only those that do not confer academic degrees or offer technical programs.

Region and scope

The two Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (M.S.A.-C.E.S.S.) accredit nearly 2600

and

of elementary and secondary / high schools, along with the various school systems / districts of cities / towns and counties throughout the United States (especially in its originally designated Middle Atlantic states region) and those of American origin in more than 100 other countries around the world. MSA used to accredit colleges and universities through its higher education commission. In 2013, that commission, the

, became a legally separate entity.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middle States Association Of Colleges And Schools Chestnut Street (Philadelphia) Educational organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Philadelphia School accreditors Associations of schools

Region and scope

See also

References

External links