Pensacola Christian College has announced today that they will be seeking Accreditation with the Transnational Association of Colleges and Schools

[Chip Van Emmerik] TTU was regionally accredited until about 10 years ago or so. They are either nearing or just have completed accreditation with TRACs now.

I applied for the PACE program in SC (allows folks without teaching degrees to acquire certification), and was denied simply because my degree was from TTU and they are not regionally accredited.

I stand corrected on the TTU accreditation issue. It was my understanding that they were accredited by the Southern regional agency.

Regarding national accreditation being no good — it really does depend on the institution to which you are applying. I know of a student who graduated from Boston Baptist College (a TRACS-accredited school) who is currently enrolled at Yale (Divinity School). I earned a doctorate at an accredited university with a non-accredited degree from PCC. Ultimately, building relationships between schools and accrediting agencies makes the process much simpler.

There is a lot of tension between some of the higher ed accrediting agencies (and in the lower schools agencies as well) and its hard to know how it will all shake out. Yet another variable is no one knows what the USDOE will end up doing during the next two years (or possibly six) of the Obama administration. There are significant signs that there is a “bubble” of sorts in US higher education akin to that which was in the real estate market. If that “bursts”, we can expect to see all kinds of new regulations heading our direction. It will be at that time, when TRACS may be extremely valuable to Christian colleges as they at least have a place at the table. The more schools and students that they represent — the louder the voice.

Apparently I stand corrected as well. While I was attending there around the turn of the century, I was told by several in leadership that the regional accreditation had just been lost but that TRACS accreditation was coming.

Dan,

Since the above also links to your blog post and we’ve been clarifying… BJU became TRACS accredited in November 2006, not last year as stated. Their renewal is, I believe, due this year.

I stand corrected again….

http://tracs.org/member.htm#b] Here ’s a link that will show the various schools and when they applied, were accredited and current status.

This might be a question too hard to answer briefly, but, what requirements does a school have to meet to be regionally accredited? Maybe just highlight the big things, and the things that many Christian colleges either have a philosophical problem with or a problem with being able to meet such a standard.

I see several of my http://www.gospellight.com/sunday-school/ Sunday school kids off to PCC every fall. I commend them for pursuing this accreditation for the sake of attracting more students nationally to their school. I’ve always been under the impression that they are a conservative Christian school. I am wondering why that was questioned above?

[Dan]
Maranatha, Clearwater, Baptist Bible/Springfield, Davis College are all Christian colleges that are accredited by regional accrediting associations like North Central, Mid-Atlantic, etc…

Just for the record, so is Faith Baptist Bible College in Iowa.

[JasonR]

[Ron Bean] If PCC earns TRACS accreditation, some people may express serious doubts about TRACS’ credibility.

Would you? If so, why?

I’m also a little curious as to why… I have profound philosophical/theological differences with PCC that would limit fellowship, but I spent three weeks there for a high school music camp and found them generally competent at education (and the music faculty a lot of fun). I have a friend whose son sucked up all his disagreements in order to attend PCC because of what they thought was an outstanding nursing program.

[M. Osborne]

[JasonR]

[Ron Bean] If PCC earns TRACS accreditation, some people may express serious doubts about TRACS’ credibility.

Would you? If so, why?

I’m also a little curious as to why… I have profound philosophical/theological differences with PCC that would limit fellowship, but I spent three weeks there for a high school music camp and found them generally competent at education (and the music faculty a lot of fun). I have a friend whose son sucked up all his disagreements in order to attend PCC because of what they thought was an outstanding nursing program.

I lived in PCC’s backyard for 11 years; moving about 6 years ago. At that time the academic qualifications of their faculty were a bit “thin” with advanced degrees from themselves and some schools that I had never heard of. I took a few graduate classes there and the course work attendance and book reports. Personally, I was not impressed but I hope things have improved.