The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, non-governmental membership association that serves as an institutional accreditor and promotes educational excellence and quality assurance to its member institutions. Our members are degree granting post-secondary educational institutions offering higher education and located inside or outside the United States, including, but not limited to, the States of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NECHE currently accredits over 200 institutions across the globe. The Commission is composed of faculty, administrators, and trustees from affiliated institutions as well as a number of public members, all of whom serve on a voluntary basis, and is served by an experienced staff led by Dr. Lawrence Schall.
As the authority and guardian of standards of excellence in higher education, NECHE embraces the roles of mentor and connector as it guides institutions through the rigors of the accreditation process. The Commission and its staff pride themselves on being supportive of and accessible to the institutions they serve. NECHE is respectful and responsive, committed to institutional success and improvement, and committed to balancing its responsibility to members institutions and members of the public, including prospective and current students.
The Commission is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a reliable authority on the quality of education for the institutions it accredits.
NECHE traces its roots to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), founded in 1885, the nation’s oldest regional accrediting association. In 2018, the New England Commission of Higher Education became a separate and independent entity.