Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atlantic United States and certain foreign institutions of American origin. Prior to 2013, it comprised three separate commissions:
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
- Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools (MSCES)
- Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools (MSCSS)
 MSA logo | |
 MSA operational area | |
| Abbreviation | MSA-CESS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1887 |
| Dissolved | 2013 |
| Legal status | Association |
| Purpose | Educational accreditation |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Region served | The United States and over 100 countries world-wide |
Main organ | Board of Trustees |
The higher education commission, MSCHE, and the other two commissions now operate independently. 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 offer technical programs.[1]
Region and scope
The "Middle States Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools" (M.S.A.-C.E.S.S.) as of 2021 accredits "nearly" 2600 public and private schools and school systems throughout the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.[2]
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.
References
- Regional and National Institutional Accrediting Agencies. U.S. Department of Education, "College Accreditation in the United States". Retrieved 9 April 2018
- MSA-CESS website, retrieved August 15, 2021.