Initial Analysis On Higher Education Accreditation System Of North Central Association Of Colleges And Schools In U.S.A

Institutional Accreditation is one of a distinctive and effective higher education quality assurance means in U.S.A.. It has been playing a very important role in assuring the continuing and healthy and quick development of American higher education. North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) with the longest accreditation history and the largest scale among the six regional Association of Colleges and Schools has well-considered mechanism on accreditation. Its distinguishing features and advantages are both representative and typical. We can learn from its rich experience and lesson on accreditation when we build up our perfect and effective and internationalization higher education quality assurance system. So, based upon the foundation laid by previous research, this dissertation selected NCA as a case aims to probe deeply into the distinguishing features and advantages as well as the existing issues by deeply researching its history, criterion, procedures and so on. This dissertation is expected to summarize several pairs of beneficial experience and advice used for building up and improving Chinese higher education quality assurance.This dissertation consists of four parts which are the introduction, the summary of higher education institutional accreditation system made by NCA, looking into regional institutional accreditation system through higher education institutional accreditation system of NCA and inspirations drawed from it. The content in every part is the following:The Introduction explains the reason, the methodology and the main concepts of the study, summarizes the literature presently at hand.The second part describes the types, function and administration of the higher education accreditation system in U.S.A., followed up a minute description for higher education accreditation system of NCA concluded the origin and historical development of NCA , the personnel of NCA, the relationship between the accreditation of NCA and higher education quality assessment of states, the evolvement and the main content and the main characteristics of the Criteria for Accreditation of NCA, the basis procedures for accreditation of NCA.Based on the description in the second part, the third part makes attempt at the deep summary on the historical background, distinguishing features and advantages as well as the existing issues of regional institutional accreditation in U.S.A.In Part 4, the necessity, the feasibility and some possible and important steps to develop Chinese institutional accreditation system are discussed clearly, all aiming to help strengthening...