HISTORY OF THE NORTH CENTRAL ASSOCIATION
On March 29 and 30, 1895, thirty-six school, college, and
university administrators from seven midwestern states met at Northwestern
University. They had been called to “organize, if deemed expedient, an association
of colleges and schools of the North-Central States.” The constitution of the
association formed by these educators stated that the North Central
Association’s object would be “the establishment of close relations between the
colleges and secondary schools” of the region.
Within a short time, the desire to improve articulation
between secondary schools and colleges led to extensive examination of the
quality of education at both levels; that, in turn, led to the accreditation of
secondary schools and, later, colleges and universities. Three histories of the
Association—Calvin O. Davis’ A History of the North Central
Association (1945), Louis G. Geiger’s Voluntary Accreditation: A History
of the North Central Association 1945–1970 (1970), and Mark Newman’s
An Agency of Change: One Hundred Years of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools (1997)—trace this evolution and chronicle the
decisions and actions the Association has taken to provide educational
leadership to the region and the country.
Today, the Association is a membership organization of
colleges and schools in nineteen states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and
Wyoming), American Dependents’ Schools operated overseas for the children of
American military and civilian personnel, and schools and colleges in sovereign
U.S. tribal nations within the nineteen states. Through its Board, the Association
controls the use of its name, logo, and intellectual property. Two independent
corporations, the Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (CASI) in
Tempe, Arizona, and The Higher Learning Commission, in Chicago, Illinois, also
hold membership in the Association. The two commissions hold the legal
authority to conduct accrediting activities for educational organizations. CASI
accredits schools below the postsecondary degree-granting level, and The Higher
Learning Commission accredits degree-granting higher education organizations.
Reprinted from The Higher Learning
Commission Version 1:10/03 The Handbook of Accreditation
Chapter 1.1, Introduction
to Voluntary Accreditation and the Commission