Regionally Accredited Colleges/Universities

WHAT DOES REGIONAL ACCREDITATION MEAN?  [See WAC 180-78A-010] Regionally accredited institution of higher education means a community college, college, or university which is a candidate for accreditation or is accredited by one of the following regional accrediting bodies:

• Middle States, Association of Colleges and Schools

• New England Association of Schools and Colleges

• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

• Western Association of Schools and Colleges; Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges

HOW CAN I CHECK FOR REGIONAL ACCREDITATION?
There are several methods available. We recommend checking several sources to double-check the reliability of the first:

• Ask the college/university to identify whether they are regionally accredited, and if so, by which accrediting body. Then visit the web site for the regional accrediting body (see links above), and look up your college/university in their listing of accredited institutions.

• Visit http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/ for a listing (alphabetical or by state) of regionally accredited colleges/universities, maintained by the University of Texas.

• Contact information for the regional accrediting bodies can be found at http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp

• U.S. Department of Education information on accreditation at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred

WHAT IF I WAS EDUCATED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY? If you are from another country, you may have your college transcript evaluated to determine US-equivalency. With the equivalent of a bachelor's degree and completion of a teacher preparation program, you should qualify for a Residency Certificate.

Transcript Evaluation Services

After a review of foreign evaluation services, state practices of foreign evaluation, transcript and class translations, OSPI has decided to amend the evaluation services approved by the certification office of OSPI. As of September 11, 2008, OSPI will accept translation services from members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). (Excluding Canada) For information regarding NACES, membership criteria, and NACES’ guiding principles of good practice for educational credential evaluation, please visit http://www.naces.org

Informational brochure

A NAFSA Guide to Selecting a Foreign Credentials Evaluation Service