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The NAAE Story

Originality Harnessed to Formation and Launch

Converging market and public policy forces are pushing higher education to be more relevant and valuable to contemporary society, more responsive to authentic student needs, and scrupulous about delivering value.

Institutional leaders, governing boards, alumni, and government officials understand the role of accreditation in response to those forces. They also require accreditation that is less prescriptive and more responsive in support of institutional aspirations and initiatives. Legacy expectations are no longer sufficient.

NAAE’s formation is based on accreditation that is valuable, averse to duplicative processes, and fearless in requiring academic excellence, advancement of societal knowledge, and defense of independent freedom of inquiry. NAAE accreditation respects and promotes institutional autonomy and fidelity to systematic, deliberate quality improvement.

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NAAE Development Timeline

  1. July 2024 — Executive team formed with physical offices in Louisville, KY.
  2. September 2024 — Professional accreditation officers recruited and on-boarded.
  3. October 2024 — Commission on Accreditation established and oriented.
  4. January 2025 — NAAE notifies ED.Gov., CHEA of intent to seek recognition from both.
  5. February 2025 — NAAE begins building enterprise-level proprietary accreditation management system.
  6. March 2025 — Initial version of NAAE Standards and Evaluative Measures are completed and shared within the higher education community.
  7. June 2025 — NAAE trademark registered by U.S. PTO.

Why NAAE

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NAAE exists to ensure that “the heart of higher education – fidelity to the full intellectual, temporal, and practical development of the individual – receives serious fortification and support, immediately and without compromise.”

Through a dynamic system of peer review and quality assurance, NAAE and its member institutions will restore to full strength the content, standards, and expectations of those with a stake in higher education. NAAE is necessary to restore quality assurance that emphasizes data-driven, outcomes-based assessments and reviews. The discipline of continuous improvement toward advancing excellence at an institutional level must align with the value-added outcomes that students encounter and expect upon completion.

Most importantly, NAAE aspires to demonstrate that its methods and member institutions fill an important void in the higher education ecosystem, offering a reliable basis for confidence and celebration.

The NAAE Solution

Provide a novel, dynamic quality assurance program free of legacy accreditation deficiencies, which delivers meaningful and relevant standards, supports academic excellence, promotes independent pursuit of truth, and requires autonomous governance. Evaluate client institutions using forward-oriented metrics and methods. Operate an integrated accreditation management system that streamlines communication, expands collaboration, promotes transparency, and reduces resource requirements for client institutions and the accrediting operation.