Religious and Theological Studies Accreditation

Accreditation is a form of independent, professional institutional and/or program assessment that assures you and your parents that a school adheres to high quality standards. This means the school's programs are delivered by qualified faculty and that its programs are constantly updated to follow the changes and meet the needs of the employment world. Attending an accredited school or program is often thought to make you more competitive on the job market.

In Canada there is no national accrediting body for post-secondary schools; however, many universities and colleges offering religious and theological studies programs have successfully pursued accreditation from international bodies. In addition, some are members of the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada (AUCC) which is regarded internationally as an expression that an institution adheres to high quality standards.

Accrediting Agencies
The Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE)
Established: 1947
Location: Orlando, Florida
Web: http://www.abhe.org/
Accredits postsecondary institutions throughout North America that engage students in biblical, transformational, experiential, and missional higher education.

The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS)
Established: 1936
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Web: http://www.ats.edu/
Accredits post-baccalaureate professional and academic degree programs to educate people for the practice of ministry and for teaching and research in the theological disciplines.

Why Accreditation?
The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, which are educational associations of regional or national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.