The Scoop on Accreditation and Degree-Granting Authority

First of all - definitions:

Degree Granting Authority is the ability to grant various degrees (MA, PhD, BA, Di.Div., etc.). Such authority comes from the State in which the seminary is located. Every state has different criteria - some very easy, some not so easy. NM is very easy. VT is one of the harder ones in the country. VT's DGA process is much easier if a school is accredited by a federally recognized accrediting body. So accreditation must come first. VT is VERY strict about what you call your school, your units/ credits, etc. to make sure that you are not misleading people into thinking they are getting a degree, etc. They don't even like people calling themselves "tree doctors" or Reiki "Masters" because "doctor" and "master" implies a certain amount of education at a certain level of rigor.

Accreditation is a voluntary process (not required for operation or even DGA) by a non-governmental, private peer review organization. That is, it is a bunch of similar institutions that decide to set the standard for their type of programs that other groups that want to meet that standard have to prove that they can. It is a private club.

Accreditation can be regional or specialty based. Regional (like the Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accrediting bodies give general accreditation for a school. That is, it says that your liberal arts school meets the standards of such colleges. It doesn't say that your psychology program meets APA standards. So the APA, AMA, etc. each have their own accrediting bodies that certify that a school's program meets the standards not just of general degree type - but of the that specialty/ profession.

So that shows the other axis besides regional/ specialty - and that is, general institution versus programmatic accreditation.

Penn State has general/ regional accreditation. But then some of its programs have specialty accreditation. This works well for large multi-program universities.

Christian seminaries usually fall under institutional/ specialty accreditation. These seminaries have banded together to set standards, created their own accrediting agency, and now accredit schools like themselves. That is how accrediting agencies are born.

But an important thing to get from all this is:

Accreditation is very different from DGA - although it is easier to get DGA if you are already accredited.

Pagan seminaries, in general, and CHS in particular - then fall into a unique position. Regional accreditation is really for large, liberal arts school, usually at the BA level. We don't really qualify nor do we have the resources for it. Thus, we need specialty accreditation, but there are no accrediting agencies for Pagan seminaries. (There is a fledgling one being discussed by some of the Pagan schools and training programs – tentatively called the National Association of Pagans Schools and Seminaries). No Christian one's will accredit us. So we need to find another niche. Since CHS is a distance program, the DETC standards seem to fit us best. I have all of their accreditation handbooks, brochures, guides, etc.

Does the state of Vermont *require* accreditation before giving its approval as a degree-granting institution?

No - but without accreditation, the DGA process includes a whole evaluation that is essentially the same as the accreditation process, except it is by bureaucrats rather than people who understand the process/ nuances of distance education. An acupuncture school in Vermont tried to seek DGA and accreditation concurrently to "save time". The accreditation agency decided not to proceed until they were settled in their status with the state, and the state had no real idea how to do the process - so it took them 7 years to figure it out. It is much quicker to get accredited first and then do the DGA paperwork which makes a huge allowance for accredited schools.