Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

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Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
AbbreviationMSA-CESS
Formation1887
Legal statusAssociation
PurposeEducational accreditation
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Region served
The United States and over 100 countries world-wide
Main organ
Board of Trustees

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performs peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atlantic United States and certain foreign institutions of American origin. It comprised three separate commissions:

The higher education commission, MSCHE, and the other two commissions now operate independently. The MSCES and the MSCSS operate together as an organization sometimes known as the MSA-CESS. The accreditation of post-secondary schools by the MSCSS is limited to those that do not confer degrees or offer technical programs.[1]

Region and scope[edit]

The "Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools" (M.S.A.-C.E.S.S.) as of 2021 accredits "nearly" 2600 public and private schools and school systems throughout the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.[2]

MSA used to accredit colleges and universities through its higher education commission. In 2013, that commission — the Middle States Commission on Higher Education — became a legally separate entity.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Regional and National Institutional Accrediting Agencies. U.S. Department of Education, "College Accreditation in the United States". Retrieved 9 April 2018
  2. ^ MSA-CESS website, retrieved August 15, 2021.