Just Curious

The thread on Louisiana and LaCrosse has piqued my curiosity. What National Accreditation agencies allow doctorates? The only one I can think of is TRACS, are there any others?

Ted N.

 

Many accreditors accredit schools that offer doctoral programs.

The only ones that I know of that accredit schools offering a wide variety of doctoral programs in a host of different fields are the six regional accreditors. *All* of America's doctoral-research universities are RA.

But there are also many specialized accreditors that accredit doctoral programs.

In some cases they only accredit doctoral programs within universities that already have regional accreditation. This group includes some well known accreditors like the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association.

But there is a group of specialized accreditors that accredit both programs in their field within larger general universities already having regional accreditation *and* smaller free-standing specialized schools that only offer programs in that particular subject. In some cases this specialized accredition represents the latter schools' only accreditation, and in that case it constitutes the school's institutional accreditation. Most of these accreditors only accredit bachelors and masters programs.

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) is an example that accredits some freestanding art schools that offer BFAs and MFAs. I should point out that an MFA is considered a terminal degree in studio art and qualifies one for university teaching.

Examples of accreditors that accredit freestanding specialized schools offering doctoral degrees?

Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) accredits a number of non-RA free-standing chiropractic colleges offering D.C. degrees. http://www.cce-usa.org

Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME) http://www.cnme.org

American Osteopathic Association (AOA) http://www.aoa-net.org

American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) http://www.apma.org

Association of Theological Schools (ATS) http://www.ats.edu

And as you pointed out, TRACS. http://www.tracs.org This would have to be considered a specialized accreditor of evangelical Protestant religious schools. They brag about their 'Biblical foundations' requirement for accreditation, and that the schools that they accredit will only hire Christians (of their sort) as faculty.

There are currently several specialized accreditors that already accredit masters programs that are trying to get US Department of Education recognition for accrediting doctoral programs.

One is the familiar DETC, which is specialized not in a field of study but in a delivery medium. It's working on getting first professional degrees approved.

Another is the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM). Practitioners in this area practice with masters degrees, but want doctorates like the other quasi-medical fields listed above.

 

Thank you Bill. Your thorough post is appreciated.

Ted N.