STANDARDS

0.0 THE INSTITUTION

0.1 The institution shall have a physical presence corresponding to its address provided to the association. This may include an official campus and/or administrative offices.
0.2 The institution freely publishes its location, including address, city and state on its communication pieces, including letter head, website, etc.
0.3 The Institution provides a means of communication for all students to access the administrative office of the institution.
0.4 The Institution shall maintain reasonably scheduled hours in which students may phone or write with questions or comments.
0.5 The Institution shall develop and insure efficient operations of its' administrative offices and methods of communications.
0.6 The Institution has a policy that allows for student messages to be returned within a reasonable time frame.
0.7 The Institution shall provide for the safe keeping of student records and institutional documents.
0.8 The Institution agrees to provide sufficient notice to all enrolled students and graduates of any changes in location, phone numbers, or email addresses.
0.9 The Institution keeps a current log of all enrolled students including grades received, address, state, and phone numbers, and as may be applicable by Federal and State laws.
0.10 The Institution keeps records on all graduates as to the date of graduation and the degree or certificate conferred, for a minimum of 20 years from the date of graduation.

1.0 ADMINISTRATION

1.1 The Institution has in place a full-time President.
1.2 The Institution has in place methods to maintain legal and ethical practices.
1.3 The President insures a point of contact for student records and student enrollments.
1.4 The Institution operates in a sound financial manner.
1.5 The Institution has in place a policy that is anti-discriminatory in its hiring practices and in the acceptance of students; and ensures compliance to all related Federal and State Laws.
1.6 The Institution shall insure appropriate hiring practices.
1.7 The Institution shall insure that officially enrolled students have full access to all applicable policies/procedures within one week of official enrollment.
1.8 The institution has in place policies/procedures which insure confidentiality of all student records and which demonstrate compliance with all applicable privacy laws.

2 ONLINE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY

2.1 The institution has adequately trained support and design staff for the use of online learning technologies and provides full technical support functions to its students and faculty.
2.2 The institution shall maintain adequate electronic media and tools to students and faculty to facilitate online delivery of courses and related materials, including examinations.
2.3 The institution shall have in place policies/procedures for the safety, preservation and back up of all online teaching supports and materials.

3. 0 FACULTY

3.1 Faculty are not permitted to teach above their highest earned degree level or licensure; although experience of faculty may be taken into consideration related to teaching assignments.
3.2 Faculty members shall have access to the administration of the institution via phone, in person or email, during normal operating hours.
3.3 Faculty members shall be included/involved in the design of curriculums in which they are instructing.
3.4 There is adequate oversight of the performance of all faculty.
3.5 Faculty members are required to update their own courses once every 3 years, at a minimum, and make recommendations to the President for course re-design as deemed appropriate.
3.6 Faculty members shall provide each assigned student with a means of communication with them. This may include, phone communication, email, video/phone in, person meetings, etc. The means of communication is made clear to the students at the start of each course.
3.7 Those faculty members, who are licensed professionals, shall submit a copy of current licensee to the institution whenever a new license has been given by any state licensing body or professional organization and where such licensure is required by law to teach. A copy of such license will remain on file in the administrative offices.
3.8 There are adequate policies in place for the hiring of faculty which meet all applicable Federal and State laws.
3.9 There is a determined adequate ratio of faculty-to-students. This ratio insures that each faculty can give the needed time and attention to each assigned student in instruction. Said ratios are determined by the type of courses taught, as well as the time availability of each individual instructor.
3.10 The Institution evaluates, on an ongoing basis, faculty to student ratios, and corrections are made as necessary
3.11 When in dispute, there is a mechanism in place by the administration to review student's complaints of course grades. The administration shall make the final determination regarding any said disputes.
3.12 There is a mechanism in place by the administration to take and respond to, including investigation of, any official complaint against a faculty member as presented by a student. Upon determination, a representative of the Institution shall respond to the student regarding the investigation of said allegations within an established time frame.

4 CURRICULUMS

4.1 All curricula shall be consistent in quality with standards of higher education.
4.2 All curriculums shall offer students quality education consistent with the objectives of the courses and programs of study.
4.3 All curriculums shall detail the objectives for students for each course offered.
4.4 All curriculums & programs shall have a time limit for student completion of a course.
4.5 All curriculums shall have in place a quality means to evaluate student learning and progression in the course.
4.6 All curriculums shall have a grade value assigned upon completion, or the assigning of a "pass" or "fail" grade, as deemed appropriate by the faculty. The institution approves all faculty grading scales.
4.7 All curriculums shall include the use of current materials that insure the quality of the content being taught.
4.8 All curriculums shall have a course description provided by faculty, which details an over view of the course content.
4.9 Easy access to required examinations shall be insured by the school.
4.10 There is a method by which exams are graded in a fair and consistent manner.
4.11 All student grades are made known to the students within a reasonable time frame for an objective exam, within one calendar week for an essay exam, and within one month for any type of thesis or extensive project. A reasonable time frame is determined for mailed in examinations.
4.12 Faculty directly disclose to students their scores achieved on all exams.
4.13 There is a process in place and/or a policy for students to file an appeal of a grade or score. This is overseen by the administration of the institution.
4.14 There is a mechanism to insure student privacy of scores and grades achieved. The Institution complies with all Federal and States laws related to such confidentiality.
4.15 There is a policy in place regarding course re-takes for students who did not achieve a passing score on an exam. The faculty defines policy for testing and for test re-takes and students are informed of said policy/policies.
4.16 Students receive a final grade point average upon successful completion of any degree or certificate program and the grade point average shall be recorded on the student's official transcripts.
4.17 There is a mechanism for students to request official verification for each course taken, including each course in a program. This does not preclude the institutions right to charge appropriately for preparing and sending such verifications.
4.18 Students are provided full purchasing information regarding all required course materials for all offered courses and curriculums.
4.19 Any authored materials created by the faculty and/or the Institution are sold to students at a fair market value.
4.20 All fees are fully disclosed to all students.
4.21 Students are provided the opportunity to complete an evaluation on their instructor for each course taken.
4.22 There is a mechanism in place in which all instructors receive feedback on all evaluations completed by students.
4.23 The institution has in place policies/procedures by which all faculty, course and program evaluations are reviewed and acted on appropriately by the administration.

5 REFERENCE SERVICES

5.1 As appropriate, faculty provide references for students related to subject matter taught and all reference materials shall be posted for students.
5.2 The institution provides appropriate references for students to access resource materials and major search engines sites for use in their courses and programs.
5.3 If distance education is offered, faculty encourages students to utilize their local public libraries and/or local college campus libraries for reference and research materials.

6 THESIS/GRADUATE PROJECTS

6.1 All required written thesis, or graduate projects shall be reviewed by a faculty member to insure completion, quality and fairness in grading.
6.2 The institution retains one copy of any master degree thesis or doctoral dissertation. Such copies shall be kept on file for a minimum of 6 years from the date the student graduates.
6.3 Master Thesis and Graduate Projects are assigned a grade value; this may be a letter valued grade or an assigned evaluation of "pass" or "fail."
6.4 All programs requiring master degree thesis, doctoral dissertations, or graduate projects must provide students with written guidelines for completing such. Such guidelines must be made easily accessible to the students.

7 TRANSCRIPTS

7.1 The institution prepares an official transcript for each student completing a prescribed course of instruction or education.
7.2 All transcripts will carry the official seal of the institution.
7.3 All official transcripts will be signed by the Registrar of the institution.
7.4 All transcripts will list in order taken, all courses completed, along with a corresponding grade.
7.5 All transcripts shall include an overall grade point average for all degree and certificate programs completed.
7.6 Students shall receive a copy of their official transcript upon graduation from a degree or certificate program.
7.7 Students may request an unlimited number of transcripts from the institution. The institution reserves the right to charge for such at a reasonable price. In no instance, shall the institution refuse to honor a students request to have official transcripts sent, unless the student refuses to or has not remitted the required fee.
7.8 All official transcripts will include the degree or certificate conferred on the student.
7.9 All official transcripts will include the date of completion of the degree or certificate program.
7.10 The institution has in place policies that direct time-lines for sending transcripts requested by students.

8 ACCEPTANCE OF CREDITS

8.1 The administration insures the development of objective criteria for accepting transfer credits from other institutions.
8.2 In no instance may the institution accept more than 75% of transfer credits to satisfy the requirements for a degree or a certificate.
8.3 Transfer credits that were received by a student, who did not complete a degree at another institution, will not be accepted if they are over 25 years old.
8.4 The institution shall not transfer in any credits in which a grade below a "C" is recorded.
8.5 No credits may be transferred from other schools without proper validation of credits earned by transcripts.

9 LIFE CREDITS

9.1 The institution will convene a regular academic committee to oversee the evaluation of all life credits or application for life credits submitted by students.
9.2 The committee operates on sound, objective criteria in determining whether or not to accept life credits.
9.3 In no instance shall a degree be awarded solely on life credits.
9.4 In no instance shall there be acceptance of more than 30% life credits for completion of a degree or certificate program.
9.5 Each institution shall establish its policies/procedures for the award of experiential credits based on validation and portfolio assessments, up to a maximum of 30% of degree requirements.

10 TUITION REFUNDS

10.1 There is a clearly stated policy in place that allows for students to drop out of a course and receive a full or partial refund. This statement is provided to students prior to enrollment.
10.2 The policy is easily accessible to all students.

11 FINANCIAL VIABILITY

11.1 The institution prepares a yearly capital and operating budget.
11.2 Said budgets are approved by the officers of the institution, the proprietors, or as appropriate, the board of trustees or investors.
11.3 The institution maintains a reserve that may be available in an emergency to insure the continuation of operations, and shall be equal to that of not less than ninety days of operations.

12 MISC

12.1 Any new programs (degree or certificate) shall be submitted to the accreditor and reviewed prior to enrolling students. Along with submission shall be inclusive; program goals, objectives, course titles and semester hours of credit, faculty involved, list of required learning materials including texts, and the time frame for implementing the new programs.
12.2 The institution will have in place a program that allows for reasonable efforts to conduct post-graduation follow up and career evaluations, related to how the degree has served graduated students.
12.3 The institution has in place policies/procedures that provide guidelines for students' entry and requirements for any courses that are designed as field work/practicum.
12.4 The institution has policies/procedures for admission requirements and has in place full disclosure of terms and conditions for admission and enrollment.
12.5 The institution provides disclosure to students that accreditation by AIDE is not an accreditation that is approved by the United States Department of Education or a country's Ministry of Higher Education.

To Home Page: access here

To Preview "Frequently Asked Questions:" access here

To Preview Accredited Members: access here