Accreditor: "American Academy for Liberal Education"

Hi, group!

According to the Web-site of the "American Academy for Liberal Education" (AALE) at http://www.aale.org :

"AALE is listed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education as a recognized national accrediting agency for the accreditation and preaccreditation of institutions of higher education and programs within institutions of higher education that offer liberal arts degrees at the baccalaureate level."

If this is so, how does AALE compare with the other accrediting agencies? I know that this is not regional accredition, but what is the real value of an accreditation by AALE?

My best regards,


Karlos Al "El Caballero" Lacaye
[email protected]

 

Primary to this topic is the fact that this association is recognized by the USDoE. But I'm sure you'll get the usual response from the usual suspects, "RA is best!"

I however am not sure that a degree from a school accredited by this association will get one admitted to a great number of RA graduate programs. (Only because RA stays in the RA loop) In this regard a degree from a school accredited by this association might not meet the needs of most students.

Regards, Wes

 

I trust that you have confirmed this with the USDOE. Given that, I am growing more and more dubious of the academic value of accreditation of institutions that are not also regionally accredited. It is becoming clear to me that these forms of accreditation are more along the lines of consumer protection methods rather than academic evaluations. After all, that is the legacy of the DETC; the NHSC was established for the very reason that the public was growing skeptical about the correspondence course industry because of many rip-off artists. I'm not so sure that DETC accreditation of degree-granting institutions ensures those degree programs are of comparable quality. Too little, too late. The regionals are finally getting their acts together regarding DL schools and programs. I could even see a diminished role for the DETC--and others--regarding the accreditation of academic programs.

Rich Douglas

 

I see some value in accrediting agencies such as ATS/AABC/TRACS in that they serve a specific religious constituency. I would like to see TRACS continue to grow and accredit more conservative christian schools. I think there is a place for that. There have been a number of examples where accreditors attempted to interfere with the religious policies of some schools. A couple of years ago the APA tried to do that with Christian Psychology programs. It caused some concern for Christian schools based on the fact of APA importance.

North

 

Hi Karlos.

I hadn't heard of this organization until you posted this. But from looking at their site, I think that they probably should be considered something akin to a professional accreditor for liberal arts programs. Kind of an ABET, ABA or AACSB for the arts and humanities crowd.

I couldn't find a list of the schools they accredit, but their featured member profiles were for places like Baylor, Thomas Aquinas College and Thomas More College. That suggests the traditional-style liberal arts, perhaps at church run schools in particular.

My guess is that the great majority of their members are already regionally accredited. Might be wrong though...

 

Hey, Bill!

Nice talking to you again.

Well, it could be, but I became aware of AALE by way of "Ave Maria College", and this institution is not regionally accredited.

Bye for now,


Karlos Al "El Caballero" Lacaye
[email protected]

 

Rich, I would invite you to request information from the DETC regarging their accreditation standards and the members selected to be participants in their review teams. The DETC accreditation process is very much geared toward assessment of academic standards for the institutions and programs under review.

And I would respectfully counter your suggestion that the role of the DETC will dimminish. The exact oposite has been the case over the last five years.

Paul C.

 

Rich,
it's really the opposite effect that we see as faar as the role and future of DETC is concerned.infact this is evident by the fact that the traditional RA's are now touching some non traditional schools that would have been deemed untouchable years ago. good example will be NCA vs NCU (in precott AZ.)
DETC competion is good no ?

Timmy.

 

We see the same phenomenom and draw different conclusions. I see the RAs finally getting it together regarding DL, which I believe will make "general" institutional accrediting agencies like DETC much more marginalized. I believe DETC is facing the downward trend of a growth curve. The fact remains that DETC accreditation is much less acceptable to admissions officials. Schools that may have had to settle for DETC in the past can now look to getting RA. That will further ensconce the image of DETC as an accreditor of schools that do not rise to the quality of regionally accredited schools. And if they did, DETC would be redundant.

Despite DETC's efforts to improve their accreditation of academic programs, not one single DETC-accredited school has ever subsequently become regionally accredited. Not one. That may or may not say something about the quality of these schools.

I think DETC may have a future in accrediting distance programs in RA schools (and foreign equivalents). But that will take them even further away from becoming the "7th regional."

Or I could be mistaken.

Rich Douglas

 

I think that the DETC/RAs competition (if any) is a healthy one. RAs should either adapt or perish. That could be one of the reasons why JIU was accredited by NCA, and this is a step in the right direction.
DETC must also learn how to do a good job, otherwise, it will become irrelevant as more and more DL schools become RA.

Ike

 

I think that the DETC/RAs competition (if any) is a healthy one. RAs should either adapt or perish. That could be one of the reasons why JIU was accredited by NCA, and this is a step in the right direction.
DETC must also learn how to do a good job, otherwise, it will become irrelevant as more and more DL schools become RA.

Ike

 

Which one's have tried and failed?

 

PaulC:
Rich, I would...respectfully counter your suggestion that the role of the DETC will dimminish. The exact oposite has been the case over the last five years.

Agreed. Their role will "reminish" back to when they were only accrediting vocational programs. Hopefully then they'll get it right.

-Rab (currently wondering if The Nooch, who so skillfully went through TEN MILLION DOLLARS while guiding "Harcourt Higher Education" to the pile of ruins it is today, will remain on the DETC board of directors)

 

Hello once again, Karlos.

This thread seems to have been hijacked by the DETC wars, but I still want to talk about AALE.

True, although Ave Maria College seems to have only been founded in 1998, so it may be too new to have regional accreditation. But yeah, in snooping around the AALE website I did find mention of several small colleges that I'm pretty sure aren't regionally accredited, so these people do act as a sole accreditor for some schools.

I'm not sure what to make of the AALE. Most of their leadership seems to consist of pretty high powered academics. I saw Jaroslav Pelikan mentioned as a supporter. Their institutional affiliations are overwhelmingly with well regarded RA schools. The main thrust seems to be an attempt to revive the traditional (and traditionalist) undergraduate liberal arts curriculum in the face of all the pre-professionalism going around.

On the AALE 'Q&A' page, they say:

But there is this matter of them operating as a stand alone accreditor.

I find that a bit disingenuous, since it is not necessary to have US Dept. of Education "authorization" to do peer reviews. This is a free country and if somebody wants to do them they can do them. The American Chemical Society is a highly respected specialized accreditor that is not 'authorized' by the USDoE.

As to what value AALE accreditation has absent RA, I don't know. I guess that's a function of how well acquainted graduate schools and employers are with the AALE, and how in tune they are with its rather traditionalist agenda.

Almost certainly the acceptance would be less than RA though. That's why I think that AALE accreditation makes a lot more sense as something a liberal arts college might seek in addition to RA, not in place of it.

 

Didn't the College For Financial Planning go from DETC to regional accreditation?

Bruce

 

Did they? According to their website, they earned both forms of accreditation in the same year:

"1995
Two points of significant recognition are earned as the College receives accreditation from the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Master of Science degree Program is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council."

Rich Douglas

 

What a coincidence! Another poster used to call that guy by the same name! But you can't be him, that would violate the TOS.

I'm sure it is also a coincidence that your posting began with a thread (started by someone else) about Harcourt closing its DL doors.

Rich Douglas, piping in.

 

Gretings one more time, Bill!

Yes, I agree with everything you said, and I thank you for sharing your opinions with us.

Well, "Ave Maria College" used to have another name before 1998, but I don't remember right now. I was "College of (something)". What I find intriguing about "Ave Maria College" (and perhaps other colleges) is that it appears that they are not looking for regional accreditation. I am sure they have their reasons for doing this.

Best wishes,


Karlos Al "El Caballero" Lacaye
[email protected]

 

I'm not sure which came first (if any), but I seem to remember one of my older "Mail & Modem" books (which I haven't been able to locate) listing them as having just DETC accreditation in one edition. It seems curious they would pursue both at the same, unless by applying for DETC they were hedging their bets against a long RA candidacy period, or outright denial.

Anyone know the typical candidacy period for regional, DETC, and professional accreditation? I know it's not an exact science, I just mean rough numbers.

Bruce

 

I'm not sure many of the non-RA accreditors have a candidacy period. I'm sure some do, but I haven't looked. DETC does not. With DETC, you tell them you're ready; they come; they decide.

RA candidacy status usually has a range of 1-5 years, but this can be exceeded in either direction. I would say about 3 years is pretty normal (but then, just I'm taking the median value, eh?). I have no idea what the mean length is, but I suspect it is around the same.

Rich Douglas