Fake Accrediting Agencies

There are quite a few accrediting agencies that are not recognized under GAAP, the Generally Accepted Accrediting Practices. These accrediting agencies are not recognized by either the Council on Higher Education Accreditation in Washington or the U.S. Department of Education, nor by UNESCO or by the education departments or ministries of major countries. They range from a few sincere efforts that are working for recognition to many associations started by less-than-wonderful schools in order to accredit themselves. The following is a listing of many such accreditors that we have noticed over the years. New accrediting agencies seem to form every few weeks, so not every name you see will be listed here.

Suspicious Accrediting Agencies

• Accreditation Association of Ametrican [sic] College [sic] and Universities Unrecognized agency from which the American University of Hawaii has claimed accreditation.

• Accrediting Commission for Specialized Colleges Gas City, Indiana. Established by "Bishop" Gordon Da Costa and associates (one of whom was Dr. George Reuter, who left to help establish the International Accrediting Commission, described in this section), from the address of Da Costa's Indiana Northern Graduate School (a dairy farm in Gas City). According to their literature, the accrediting procedures of ACSC seem superficial at best. The only requirement for becoming a candidate for accreditation was to mail in a check for $110.

• Accrediting Commission International for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries Beebe, Arkansas. See also: "International Accrediting Commission for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries" in this section. After the IAC was fined and closed down by authorities in Missouri in 1989, Dr. Reuter retired. A short time later, ACI opened in the adjoining state, and wrote a letter to the IAC schools offering them automatic accreditation by the ACI. I am not aware of any that turned it down. ACI refuses to make public a list of schools they have accredited. We have noted more than 130 schools that claim ACI accreditation, most of them apparently evangelical Bible schools, but more than a few nonreligious schools as well, including Century University, Columbia Southern University, Wisconsin International University, and Western States University.

• Akademie fuer Internationale Kultur und Wissenschaftsfoerderung See Association for Promotion of International Cultural and Scientific Exchange, below.

• Alternative Institution Accrediting Association Allegedly in Washington, DC, and the accreditee of several phony schools.

• American Association of Accredited Colleges and Universities. Another unloadable agency, the claimed accreditee of Ben Franklin Academy.

• American Association of Independent Collegiate Schools of Business unloadable accreditee mentioned by Rushmore University.

• American Association of Nontraditional Collegiate Business Schools Another plausible-sounding but unloadable accreditee mentioned by Rushmore University.

• American Education Association for the Accreditation of Schools, Colleges and Universities The accreditor claimed at one time by the University of America. Could not be located.

• American Psycotherapy [sic] Association Board of Psycotherapy [sic] Examiners, Katy, Texas, originally chartered in Florida, they say, while apologizing for but not correcting the misspellings.

• Arizona Commission of Non-Traditional Private Postsecondary Education Established in the late 1970s by the proprietors of Southland University, which claimed to be a candidate for their accreditation. The name was changed after a complaint by the real state agency, the Arizona Commission on Postsecondary Education (see Western Council, below).

• Association for Promotion of International Cultural and Scientific Exchange (APICS) With offices in Canada and Switzerland, this organization's secretary general is Dr. Denis K. Muhilly, who hasn't always been happy with things we've said about him in the past. All we know about this organization right now is that they've approached quite a few schools to discuss European accreditation. Also known by the German name Akademie fuer Internationale Kultur und Wissenschaftsfoerderung.

• Association of Accredited Private Schools No listed telephone in Federal Way, Washington for this accredition who wrote to many schools in 1997, inviting them to send a $1000 application fee. No listed phone.

• Association of Career Training Schools A slick booklet sent to schools says, "Have your school accredited with the Association. Why? The Association Seal could be worth many $ $ $ to you! It lowers sales resistance, sales costs, [and] improves image." Nuff said.

• Commission for the Accreditation of European Non-Traditional Universities The University de la Romande, in England, used to claim accreditation from this agency, which we could never locate.

• Council for National Academic Accreditation In 1998, they wrote to schools from Cheyenne, Wyoming offering the opportunity to be accredited on payment of a fee up to $1,850. No listed phone.

• Council for the Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges Several curious schools claimed their accreditation; the agency is supposed to be in Louisiana.

• Council on Postsecondary Alternative Accreditation An accreditor claimed in the literature of Western States University. Western States never responded to requests for the address of their accreditor. The name seems to have been chosen to cause confusion with the reputable organization originally known as the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation.

• Council on Postsecondary Christian Education Established by the people who operated LaSalle University and Kent College in Louisiana.

• Distance Education Council of America Quite reminiscent in name and literature to the recognized Distance Education and Training Council, DECA arose in Deleware in 1998, offering schools the opportunity to pay $200 or more for accreditation and $150 more for an "Excellence" rating.

• InterAmerican Association of Postsecondary Colleges and Schools The agency from which the Universitas Sancti Martin claims accreditation. We have not been able to locate this agency.

• International Accreditation Commission for Post Secondary Education Institutions. The University of the United States and Nasson University claim accreditation from this agency which, according to the schools' apparently shared web site, has "not sought specific recognition from any single nation."

• International Accreditation Association The literature of the University of North America claims that they are accredited by this association. No address is provided, nor could one be located.

• International Accrediting Association The address in Modesto, California is the same as that of the Universal Life Church, an organization that awards Doctorates of all kinds, including the Ph.D., to anyone making a "donation" of $5 to $100.

• International Accrediting Commission for Postsecondary Educational Institutions Unrecognized agency from which Adam Smith University has, in the past, claimed accreditation.

• International Accrediting Commission for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries Holden, Missouri. More than 150 schools, many of them Bible schools, were accredited by this organization. In 1989, the attorney general of Missouri conducted a clever "sting" operation, in which he created a fictitious school, the "East Missouri Business College," which rented a one-room office in St. Louis, and issued a typewritten catalog with such school executives as "Peelsburi Doughboy" and "Wonarmmd Mann." The Three Stooges were all on the faculty. Their marine biology text was The Little Golden Book of Fishes. Nonetheless, Dr. George Reuter, Director of the IAC, visited the school, accepted their money, and duly accredited them. Soon after, the IAC was enjoined from operating, slapped with a substantial fine, and the good Dr. Reuter decided to retire. (But the almost identical "Accrediting Commission International" immediately arose in Arkansas, offering instant accreditation to all IACSCTS members. See above.) Before he was apprehended, when someone wrote to Dr. Reuter to ask why our Bears' Guide had less-than-good things to say about his Association, Dr. Reuter replied, "Some of us do not rate Dr. John Bear very high. We think he is really a traditionalist and really favors those colleges and universities, and, at the same time, strives to plant dissent with others." Oh dear, oh dear.

• International Association of Non-Traditional Schools The claimed accreditor of several British degree mills; allegedly located in England.

• International Commission for the Accreditation of Colleges and Universities Established in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by a diploma mill called the United States University of America (now defunct) primarily for the purpose of accrediting themselves.

• International Commission for Excellence in Higher Education, Inc. According to Monticello University's on-line catalog, this commission "was formed by the Board of Trustees of Monticello University to ensure the highest possible standards of academic excellence in curriculum design and operational policies for member universities. Monticello University is the first distance learning institution to be accredited by this agency." We do not know of any other member institutions.

• Middle States Accrediting Board A nonexistent accreditor, made up by Thomas University and other degree mills, for the purpose of self-accreditation. The name was chosen, of course, to cause confusion with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, in Philadelphia, one of the six regional associations.

• National Accreditation Association Established in Riverdale, Maryland, by Dr. Glenn Larsen, whose Doctorate is from a diploma mill called the Sussex College of Technology. His associate is Dr. Clarence Franklin, former president and chancellor of American International University (described in the chapter on diploma mills). In a mailing to presidents of unaccredited schools, the NAA offered full accreditation by mail, with no on-site inspection required.

• National Association for Private Post-Secondary Education Washington, DC. Mentioned, in 1990, in the literature of Kennedy-Western University. They say they are not an accrediting agency but a private association of schools, however Kennedy-Western claimed accreditation from them.

• National Association of Alternative Schools and Colleges Western States University claimed in their literature that they had been accredited by this organization, which we have never been able to locate.

• National Association of Open Campus Colleges Southwestern University of Arizona and Utah (which closed after its proprietor was sent to prison as a result of the FBI's diploma mill investigations) claimed accreditation from this agency. The address in Springfield, Missouri, was the same as that of Disciples of Truth, an organization that has in the past operated a chain of diploma mills.

• The National Association for Private Nontraditional Schools and Colleges (formerly the National Association for Schools and Colleges) is a serious effort to establish an accrediting agency specifically concerned with alternative schools and programs. It was established in Grand Junction, Colorado, in the 1970s by a group of educators associated with Western Colorado University, a nontraditional school that has since gone out of business. Although NAPNSC's standards for accreditation have grown more rigorous over the years, their application for recognition has been turned down many times by the US Department of Education, but they plan to keep trying.

• National Council for the Accreditation of Private Universities and Schools of Law Unrecognized agency from which Monticello University has claimed accreditation

• National Council of Schools and Colleges Accreditation by this agency was claimed by International University, formerly of New Orleans, later of Pasadena, California, and now out of existence. Despite many inquiries, the proprietors of the school never provided information on their accreditor.

• Pacific Association of Schools and Colleges Established in 1993, this organization is operated by a man who had previously been a senior official in the California Department of Education (and who has a doctorate from an unaccredited school). PASC appears to be a serious attempt to create an accreditor that would be better able to deal with nontraditional schools.

• West European Accrediting Society Established from a mail-forwarding service in Liederbach, Germany by the proprietors of a chain of diploma mills such as Loyola, Roosevelt, Lafayette, Southern California, and Oliver Cromwell universities, for the purpose of accrediting themselves.

• Western Association of Private Alternative Schools One of several accrediting agencies claimed in the literature of Western States University. No address or phone number has ever been provided, despite many requests.

• Western Association of Schools and Colleges This is the name of the legitimate regional accreditor for California and points west. However it is also the name used by the aforementioned proprietors of Loyola, Roosevelt, etc., from a Los Angeles address, to give accreditation to their own diploma mills.

• Western Council on Non-Traditional Private Post Secondary Education An accrediting agency started by the founders of Southland University, presumably for the purpose of accrediting themselves and others (see Arizona Commission, above).

• World Association of Universities and Colleges In February 1995, the national investigative publication Spy Magazine ran quite an unflattering article on WAUC.

• Worldwide Accrediting Commission Operated from a mail-forwarding service in Cannes, France, for the purpose of accrediting the fake Loyola University (Paris), Lafayette University, and other American-run degree mills.

Bible School Accrediting Agencies

There are six recognized accreditors of religious schools, listed above, which cover everything from evangelical Christian schools to rabbinical seminaries. Religious schools often claim they have not sought accreditation since there are no relevant accreditors. They are not exactly accurate. There are also a great many unrecognized accreditors. Since many Bible schools readily acknowledge that their degrees are not academic in nature, accreditation of them has quite a different meaning. Some of these associations may well be quite legitimate, but their accreditation has no academic relevance. Some accreditors are apparently concerned primarily with doctrinal soundness; others may have other motivations. Among the Bible school accreditors are:

• Accreditation Association of Christian Colleges and Seminaries, Morgantown, KY

• Accrediting Association of Christian Colleges and Seminaries, Sarasota, FL

• AF Sep (we don't know what this means, but Beta International University claims it is the name of their accrediting association), address unknown

• American Association of Accredited Colleges and Universities, address unknown

• American Association of Theological Institutions, address unknown

• American Educational Accrediting Association of Christian Schools, address unknown

• American Federation of Christian Colleges and Schools

• Association of Christian Schools and Colleges, address unknown

• Association of Fundamental Institutes of Religious Education (AFIRE), address unknown

• International Accrediting Commission, Kenosha, WI

• International Accrediting Association of Church Colleges, address unknown

• National Educational Accrediting Association, Columbus, OH

• Southeast Accrediting Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Seminaries, Milton, FL

• World-Wide Accreditation Commission of Christian Educational Institutions