Sacred Accreditation for Christian Schools...
If you are a new institution, ATEA can help you in the areas of:
Administrative evaluation -
Having the proper administrative structure
Having the proper filing and reporting systems
Curriculum Evaluation -
Helping to point institutions in the right direction, academically.
If you are an established institution desiring extra accreditation, ATEA can help by conducting simple visits - in person, or online - once every five years to confirm compliance with ATEA guidelines.
Accreditation is Quality Control
Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process based on self and peer assessment for improvement of academic quality and public accountability. This quality control process occurs on a continuing basis during your relationship with ATEA.
The Importance of Accreditation
American higher education has emerged over its history as a diverse, competitive, decentralized “system,” with vibrant private and public sectors in which colleges and universities enjoy comparatively high autonomy. As a result, American higher education has become the envy of the world, leading in both the production of new knowledge and the proportion of its population that goes to college. Students from nations the world over come to American colleges and universities as to no other.
Accreditation is one of the major factors behind this
global leadership. Accreditation reflects the comparative advantages of American
higher education (such as its numerous and diverse institutions and its method
of graduate education) and respects its core values of autonomy, self-
governance, scholarship, and the assurance of academic quality through peer
review.
In nearly every other country, higher education is controlled and monitored by
the national government, which promulgates higher education policy. As free
markets, democracy, and individualism spread around the world, however, many
nations are adapting their higher education systems to the more competitive U.S.
model, of which accreditation is a central part.
As we do not exist to accredit and stand in witness of those who train secular career professionals, grant secular degrees, or educate those who see ministry as a profession (rather than a calling by the Lord), we have chosen not to waste valuable institutions' money on a secular regional accreditation model that costs tens of thousands of dollars - annually.
We are a ministry with a purpose and we do not exist to pursue financial gain. We serve a niche of Born Again believers who are seeking to be better equipped for Christian ministry. And the students of these institutions want to obtain education in a financially prudent manner without resorting to extensive student loans. We believe our institutes and their collective students appreciate affordable, Biblically sound education, outside of the control and influence of secular accreditation models :
- There is secular education and there is religious education
- Secular schools seek secular accreditation, and sacred schools receive sacred accreditation—each by their own peers.
- Religious institutions need no secular accreditation because they offer no secular degrees.
- Secular accreditation associations in turn are recognized by governmental agencies. They trace their authority back to the capitol of a country, like Washington, D.C.
- Religious accrediting associations are recognized by the Church of Jesus Christ, which has no supreme central office on earth. Our authority is derived directly from Heaven.
- Civil and religious interests are different and have separate realms of jurisdiction.
- The State is not superior to the Church. The Church need not wait for approval from the secular world.
Sacred
Certification for Christian Professionals...
If you are a ministry professional, ATEA can help you in the areas of:
Professional evaluation -
Having the proper ministry experience and/or training
Having the proper resources available to you for continuing self-education
Accountability Evaluation -
Helping to establish a record of accountability that is publicly respected
and verifiable
