Accreditation & recognition (who to trust)
The bodies that vouch for everyone else — CHEA & the U.S. regional accreditors for colleges, ANAB & NCCA for certifications (ISO/IEC 17024), ACE & NCCRS for credit. Check a credential here before you pay for it.
CHEA
CHEA recognizes the accreditors that vouch for U.S. colleges and programs. Its database is the quickest way to check whether a school's accreditation is real — before you spend a dime or a year.
✓ The national body that recognizes legitimate U.S. accreditors
Go to the official issuer →
U.S. Department of Education
The government's own searchable database of recognized accrediting agencies and the institutions they accredit. The authoritative "is this college legit" check.
✓ The federal record of recognized accreditors & accredited institutions
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The former "regional" accreditors
The six bodies (Higher Learning Commission, Middle States, Southern/SACSCOC, WASC/WSCUC, New England/NECHE, Northwest/NWCCU) whose accreditation is what employers and other schools actually trust. Verify your school holds one.
✓ The accreditation that makes credits transfer & degrees count
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DEAC
The recognized accreditor specifically for distance and online institutions and programs — including many TEFL and career-training providers. If an online program claims accreditation, check it's real here.
✓ CHEA- & USDE-recognized accreditor for distance/online programs
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ANSI National Accreditation Board
ANAB accredits the organizations that issue professional certifications, against the global ISO/IEC 17024 standard. An ANAB-accredited certification is the gold standard of "this cert is rigorous and fair."
✓ Accredits the certification BODIES under the ISO/IEC 17024 standard
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Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE)
NCCA accredits professional-certification programs (peer to ANAB). NCCA-accredited credentials are widely recognized by employers and licensing boards — look for the seal.
✓ The other major accreditor of personnel-certification programs
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NCCRS (New York Board of Regents)
Like ACE, NCCRS reviews courses, exams and training and recommends college credit that partner schools accept. The other backbone (with ACE) of the alt-credit world.
✓ Recommends college credit for non-college learning (peer to ACE)
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Credly (Pearson)
Where CompTIA, IBM, Microsoft, PMI and many others issue verifiable digital badges. Free to hold and share; the standard way to prove a credential online.
✓ The issuer-of-record platform for verifiable digital badges
Go to the official issuer →