Canadian University Earns U.S. Regional Accreditation

Athabasca University (http://www.athabascau.ca/), known as "Canada's Open University," has earned regional accreditation from the Middle States Association (http://www.msche.org). Athabasca is the first Canadian university to earn U.S. regional accreditation; doing so should help them continue to recruit students from the U.S. and other regions where students recognize the value of an accreditation system in guaranteeing quality in the programs that they invest their time and money in. The university provides distance education programs, as you might have guessed from the mention of "open university."

Canada does not have a regional accreditation system like the United States does. Provincial education ministries help to ensure higher education quality, and many universities seek out specialized accreditation for specific programs, such as a nursing education accreditation for nursing programs. But there are no external organizations providing accreditation services for specific regions as there are in the United States. This achievement by Athabasca University is indeed interesting, and it will be informative to see if any other universities located outside the United States follow their lead.