One of the things about NECHE that often surprises folks is that we accredit a dozen colleges and universities abroad. Although most of our U.S.-based schools offer students the opportunity to study abroad and many have formal affiliations with universities across the world, that’s not what we are talking about here. 

These dozen international institutions are stand-alone, American-style colleges that have a curriculum delivered in English and have chosen to go through the same years-long process of becoming accredited by the New England Commission that our stateside institutions go through. For these schools, there’s no access to Title IV funds that provides a driving motivation to be accredited. Instead, it’s all about quality improvement and using the tool of accreditation and peer review to grow better at what they do and improve student outcomes. 

Today, we have fully NECHE-accredited institutions spread out across the globe — in France, Switzerland, Morocco, Lebanon, Pakistan, Greece, Bulgaria, and Bermuda  — and another dozen in the pipeline with whom we have developed deep relationships. Beginning this Saturday, I’ll board a plane to visit a half dozen of our honored international partners. 

We are officially back on the road, so stay tuned for posts from each of our visits. The stories and the photos promise to be something special!