Accreditation Process
The National Council for Private School Accreditation is dedicated to the accreditation process as a viable and responsible means of establishing a witness of school excellence. NCPSA is committed to accreditation based on the concept of voluntary peer recognition; that is, the principle that institutions sharing common purposes and distinctives are better able to assist one another in achieving the standards for academic excellence and responsiveness to their respective publics and the nation.
The National Council for Private School Accreditation seeks to promote and support independent and autonomous accrediting associations serving private early childhood, elementary, and secondary schools that are committed to quality educational programs.
To Download, the Manual for the Recognition of Accrediting Associations for Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Private Schools: Click here.
Member Accrediting Agencies:
The National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) has established accreditation procedures to facilitate the appropriate application, review, and recognition of qualified and credible accrediting associations serving private schools.
Each organization applying for membership must:
- make an initial application to NCPSA
- participate in a multistep review process
- participate in a multistep recognition process
During this recognition process, the status of the applicant is determined (member, provisional member or membership denied).
Member Organizations
See below for a list of organizations that have successfully completed the procedures necessary to enter and advance to full recognition with NCPSA.
- Accreditation International (Ai)
- Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist Schools (AAA)
- Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS-WASC)
- American International Accreditation Association of Schools and Colleges (AIAASC)
- American Montessori Society (AMS)
- APPLE Accreditation (APPLE)
- Array Global Accreditation (ARRAY)
- Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI)
- Association of Christian Teachers & Schools (ACTS)
- Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS)
- Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF)
- Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA)
- Charlotte Mason Institute (CMI)
- Christian Schools International (CSI)
- Christian Schools of Florida (CSF)
- Florida Association of Christian Colleges & Schools (FACCS)
- Florida Catholic Conference (FCC)
- Florida Coalition of Christian Private School Accreditation (FCCPSA)
- International Christian Accrediting Association (ICAA)
- International Montessori Council (IMC)
- ISEI Education Association (ISEI)
- Kentucky Non-Public Schools Commission (KYNPSC)
- Middle States Association – Commission on Elementary & Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS)
- National Accreditation Board of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch (NABMLIC)
- National Alliance of Christian Schools (NACS)
- National Independent Private Schools Association (NIPSA)
- National Lutheran School Association (NLSA)
- North American Christian School Accrediting Agency (NACSAA)
- Serving & Accrediting Independent Schools (SAIS)
- The Catholic University of America – Lumen Accreditation (LUMEN)
- Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod School Accreditation (WELSSA)