Western Association of Schools and Colleges

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, more commonly referred to in the shorter form of WASC, is actually a group of accrediting services that have the regional area that includes the states of Hawaii and California as well as areas of the Asian Pacific, Guam, American Samoa, East Asian and the Pacific Basin as well as several other islands and states with that region. The three different accrediting organizations within WASC include the Accrediting Commission for Schools, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. Each accrediting group focuses on a specific level of educational institute that allows very practical and highly structured standards to be developed that related to that type of school environment and student learning outcome.

The Accrediting Commission for Schools is the broadest of the accrediting organizations under WASC, providing accreditation for public and private schools and church schools at educational levels from elementary through to middle and high schools and into adult learning schools. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges focuses on those private or public schools at the postsecondary level that grant associates degrees and certifications in two year programs. The most senior levels of postsecondary education are accredited through the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities which grant three and four year degrees at any level.

All levels of the WASC accreditation progress follow the same general procedures which include the school or educational institute completing an intensive evaluation of their educational, administrative and student outcome levels and expectation, as well as planning their future goals for improvement. After this is completed, a process that usually takes several months, a peer review team arrives at the facility and completes observations, data collection and interviews to verify and substantiate the information found in the school's self review. This information is then sent to the appropriate commission that then determines if the educational facility meets the standards to become accredited.

WACS also provides a program known as Accreditation-Plus, which is an ongoing professional development and school improvement program. While this is a fee-based option for schools, it does meet the requirements set out in the regular accreditation review process. Staff from WACS helps to guide the educational facility through the ongoing evaluation and improvement process, ensuring that graduates and students have the most up to date teaching and research based education provided. Involvement in Accreditation -Plus is entirely voluntary for schools.