Presents general institutional requirements, criteria, and procedures for accreditation used by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Links accreditation to institutional improvement. Lists the Commission's services and actions; the members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; archaic names of member…

Reviews the purposes of institutional accreditation; general institutional requirements for members of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; criteria for accreditation; and commission services. Lists institutions accredited by the North Central Association alphabetically and by state. Explains candidate for accreditation status. (DMM)

Secretary of Education William Bennett's proposal to link the criteria for listing accrediting agencies to student achievement and relate them to federal funding eligibility has provoked concern about the degree and wisdom of federal regulation of colleges through accreditation. (MSE)

Accrediting associations assess colleges in order to find out what has been accomplished, and to find out how it might be better accomplished. Assessment of educational outcomes can be a useful way to demonstrate the success of alternative means. However, accrediting agencies do not rely exclusively on outcome measures, since they only assess what…

A summary of the Inservice Education Program Seminars for State Leaders in Postsecondary Education, sponsored by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, is presented. Themes that occurred in the discussions, recommendations of an American Institutes for Research (AIR) report…