National Association accrediting agency seems to have gone away

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by John Bear, Sep 24, 2010.

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  1. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    In response to an inquiry from a reader, I checked on the National Association for Private Nontraditional Schools and Colleges, which was never recognized by the Dept. of Education or CHEA, but operated reputably [in my opinion] for about 30 years. Their website has not been changed in more than three years, and their phone in Grand Junction, Colorado is no longer in service. Founder Earl Heusser would be 80 now.
     
  2. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    With the plethora of national accrediting agencies operating at the present time, it seems that NAPNSC was never able to establish a niche. I know that California Coast was accredited by them for a while, but if an institution can be recognized by DETC, ACICS, AALE, etc., it is hard to see why a legitimate institution would seek (and pay for) accreditation that is not a member of the USDOE/CHEA "club." The closest comparison that I can find is IACBE, which will soon be recognized by CHEA.
     
  3. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    AP: "...I know that California Coast was accredited by them for a while..."

    JB: About 17 years, I believe.
     
  4. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Quite a while!

    I have wondered what made the NAPNSC so consistently unacceptable to USDOE and CHEA. Was it that "private non-traditional" was too nebulous an institutional classification?
     
  5. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    Not sure what happened in totality but I seem to recall that Heusser got in a real dispute with the head of the US DoE or someone similar. He fired off letters if I recall correctly strongly stating his points.

    I agree that with so many recognized national accrediting agencies, time has likely passed them by.
     
  6. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Yeah, I wrote about this in my book and, I think, here. Heusser had [has still?] a short fuse, and after one of the 5 or 6 rejections by the Dept of Education, he fired off a really nasty letter to Karen Kershenstein, then a real power-possessing person in the Department . . . and pretty much, I think, sealed his fate for all time.
     

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