LHE-7400

U.S. Department of Education. (2020, October 1). Accreditation in the United States.
This resource provides a brief overview of what is involved regarding to accreditation in the U.S. and the goals and rationale for regional accrediting agencies. It provides an overview of important functions of accrediting agencies and primary activities they oversee.

Lingenfelter, P.E. (n.d.). Governing bodies of higher education institutions: Roles and responsibilities. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Lingenfelter provides a brief overview of the varied ways in which states govern or regulate higher education.

Education Commission of the States. (2020). 50-State comparison of postsecondary governance structures. ESC.org
This resource provides a summary of the various postsecondary governance structures in each state and the District of Columbia.

National Association of State Boards of Education. (2023). About state boards of education.
This resource provides a brief yet excellent overview of where state higher education boards fit into accrediting and regulatory roles.

Council for Higher Education Accreditation. (n.d.). Programmatic accrediting organizations.
This resource provides the directory for accrediting organizations for programs that are recognized by the CHEA. They are organized by profession/content area (e.g., psychology, business, computer science). The scope of their accrediting is provided, along with a link to its website. Not all program accreditation organizations are listed here, so if there is not one listed for a certain degree program, there may still be one. However, this is a good place to start.

Council for Higher Education Accreditation. (n.d.). Regional accrediting organizations.
This resource provides the links to all seven regional accrediting bodies for higher education. Each accrediting agency is named and recognized scope of its accreditation is provided. Using this website, you can identify which accrediting agency oversees the state your institution is located, you can access the correct accrediting agency website, and, from there, you can identify its requirements regarding approvals of new degree programs at the institutions they accredit.

Kuh, G.D., Jankowski, N., Ikenberry, S.O., & Kinzie, J. (2014). Knowing what students know and can do: The current state of student learning outcomes assessment in U.S. colleges and universities. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment.
Kuh et al. (2014) provide findings related to the current state of student learning assessment in higher education and support the critical link it plays in program and institutional accreditation.