Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools


The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performs peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atlantic United States and certain foreign institutions of American origin. The MSA has until at least 2013 comprised three separate commissions:
The MSCES and the MSCSS operate together as an organization sometimes known as the MSA-CESS. The accreditation of post-secondary schools by the MSCSS is limited to those that do not confer degrees, or that offer technical programs.
MSCHE's headquarters are in Center City, Philadelphia.

Region and scope

The "Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools" accredits public and private schools as well as school systems throughout the United States and it states it is active in more than 85 countries around the world.
MSA used to accredit colleges and universities through its higher education commission. In 2013, that commission — the Middle States Commission on Higher Education — became a legally separate entity.