Originality Harnessed to Formation and Launch
Converging market and public policy forces[i] 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.
NAAE Development Timeline
Why NAAE
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.
[i] NAAE Inc. was founded in 2023 as a 501(c)(3) entity with the explicit charge to “conduct accrediting activities and make decisions concerning the accreditation of institutions and programs.” NAAE’s scope of recognition includes institutions throughout the U.S. and its territories. The distinction between “regional” and “national” accreditation by U.S. Department of Education was omitted in 2020 to encourage competition between legacy accreditors and promote formation of new entities.