“The Antioch School recognition is “national accreditation,” granted by the Distance Education Accrediting Council because they specialize in non-traditional forms of education, such as online learning and competency-based education.”
Accreditation is a rigorous process for academic institutions. There are two forms of legitimate accreditation in the United States (granted by accrediting agencies recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education). “Regional Accreditation” is the general recognition of traditional universities and colleges granted by seven regional agencies in the U.S. “National Accreditation” is the specialized recognition of institutions within a particular sector of higher education, such as medical or veterinary education. If you are having surgery, you most likely want a surgeon who has graduated from a medical school accredited by the American Medical Association (AMA). The Antioch School recognition is also “national accreditation,” granted by the Distance Education Accrediting Council because they specialize in non-traditional forms of education, such as online learning and competency-based education.
Accreditation by DEAC is particularly valuable because of its rigor and expertise. Most accrediting agencies are still just learning how to evaluate the non-traditional programs of its traditional institutions, but DEAC has been focused on non-traditional programs for 90 years. DEAC is a leader in the use of outcomes assessment in higher education and is miles ahead of most other agencies in this regards, as evidenced by the very significant role that DEAC plays in the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. The Antioch School received the maximum length of reaccreditation from DEAC, namely 5 years from the start of our reaccreditation process, because DEAC thinks that the 10 years often granted by regional accrediting agencies is far too long to provide a meaningful ongoing declaration about an institution’s quality.
“DEAC is a leader in the use of outcomes assessment in higher education and is miles ahead of most other agencies in this regards…”
On April 7, 2016, we received a site visit from a team of six DEAC evaluators, including a chairperson, an education standards evaluator, a business standards evaluator, a ministry content expert, a theology content expert, and a staff person. They arrived having each already scrutinized our 50,000 word Self-Evaluation Report (with 60 exhibits) and the reports from the independent course evaluators. They interviewed staff, faculty, students, and Certified Leaders. They reviewed files, policies, and facilities. They compiled a Chair’s Report to address 70+ indicators of compliance with DEAC standards. Fortunately, our response was quite brief because there were only a few points that needed to be addressed. The DEAC Accrediting Commission met late June and announced in late July the granting of our reaccreditation.
Thank you to all who helped us with the reaccreditation process. Many students and Certified Leaders were contacted by phone during the site visit. Many more were contacted through surveys. Some unknowingly served as models of admission, service, and BILD Cloud portfolio assessment processes as site visit team members arbitrarily chose examples to review. And many of you have been praying. Indeed God has answered your prayers and honored the hard work of the Antioch School, both its staff and its partner churches and ministry organizations around the world.
- DEAC Logo. DEAC (Distance Education Accrediting Commission). The DEAC Logo. 2016.
The Antioch School of Church Planting and Leadership Development is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Accrediting Commission (DEAC), 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 808, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 234-5100, www.deac.org.