Five Independent Colleges Form New Accreditation Body
News related to:NAAE Inc · 2 min read
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 13, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Five independent colleges from across the United States have joined forces to create a new accreditation organization, the National Association for Academic Excellence (NAAE). This move marks a significant shift in the landscape of higher education, as the founding members aim to establish a non-region-based, selective model focused on academic rigor and student value.
The founding institutions include Merrimack College in Massachusetts, Benedictine College in Kansas, the University of Mount Saint Vincent in New York, Bellevue University in Nebraska, and Houston Christian University in Texas. These colleges bring a wealth of experience and commitment to academic excellence, which they hope will inform the new accreditation model.
Dr. Rob Manzer, president and CEO of NAAE, expressed his excitement about the collaboration.
The founding members will hold seats on NAAE's Board of Directors and its Commission on Accreditation, the decision-making body for accreditation decisions. Their responsibilities include helping to refine standards, procedures, training, technology, evidence requirements, and terminology. This collaborative approach is expected to result in a more tailored and effective accreditation process for independent colleges and universities.
According to Dr. Manzer, the new accreditor is specifically designed for independent colleges and universities. Its standards emphasize demonstrable student achievement, educational value, the formation of the whole person, and integrated institutional accountability while respecting each institution's autonomy to define and pursue its distinctive mission. This approach is intended to support a more conscientious review of institutional and academic quality.
The move to create NAAE comes in the wake of federal regulations that took effect in 2020, ending the monopoly of six regional accreditors. These regulations aimed to create competition and choice among accreditors for the first time. NAAE's formation is seen as a response to these changes, with the goal of developing a demanding accreditation model that recognizes the unique missions, governance structures, and student populations of independent colleges and universities.
The founding members of NAAE emphasize the importance of their association with a new accrediting body to advance the quality of higher education for the long term.
Until NAAE receives formal recognition from the U.S. Department of Education, the five founding institutions will remain accredited by their current federally recognized accrediting agencies.