If the school continues to be interested after review of the material, the school is requested to provide general demographic information about the school through submission of the General Registration Form. The registration form is then followed by submission of the Application for Candidacy.

STEP #2: Establish Candidacy for Membership
Before accepting a school into membership as a Candidate for Accreditation, there is generally a one-day, onsite candidacy visit. Experienced Middle States evaluators or staff are appointed to carry out the candidacy visit because this stage in the accreditation process is of extreme importance to setting the stage for future accreditation and evaluation activities. There are five purposes for the candidacy visit.

1. To determine whether the institution currently is eligible and ready to begin the accreditation protocol.

2. To inform the school of its obligations once candidacy is established and to begin preparations for the school to begin subsequent self-study, planning, and team visit activities.

3. To assist the school in choosing an appropriate accreditation protocol and developing a timeline of future events

4. To provide assurances to the Commissions that the likelihood is positive that the school will achieve accreditation.

5. To inform the school of any major areas of facilities, operations, or program that are deficient and suggest improvements that should be undertaken prior to the team visit.

There is a fee for the candidacy visit, whether or not an offer of candidacy is extended. The school is also responsible for the travel expenses of the visitor.

The Candidacy Visit can usually be set up within a month or two of contact with CSS or CIWA, depending on the timing of the submission of the Application for Candidacy. Once the visit has been made, the candidacy visitor will submit a written report to Middle States staff; a copy of the report will be sent to the school after staff review.

STEP #3: Candidacy Decision and Offer of Candidacy
School documents and the report of the candidacy visitor will be reviewed and a decision will be made on whether to offer candidacy. The Candidacy Decision is typically made within a month of receipt of the report of the onsite visit to the school.

One of two decisions will be rendered:
To offer Candidacy for Accreditation status
To deny Candidacy for Accreditation status

If the school is offered candidacy, an official “Offer of Candidacy” letter will be sent to the school head. S/he will be asked to sign and return the “Acceptance of Candidacy” form. Signing and returning the form signals the school’s entry into membership and makes the school responsible for payment of annual dues for as long as membership is maintained. At this point, the school will be listed in all paper and electronic registries of MSA membership as a “Candidate for Accreditation.” A staff member is then assigned as the school’s “Agent of Responsibility” to guide the school through the self-study/planning process.

In some cases, where serious developmental deficiencies are noted, candidacy may be denied. In such cases, the school may reapply when substantial improvement has been made in those areas identified in the candidacy visitor report. Ordinarily this is not sooner than one to two years later. Middle States staff should be consulted before the reapplication process is begun. No prejudice regarding future candidacy decisions is attached through an initial denial.

STEP #4: Selection of Accreditation Protocol
Middle States understands that schools differ in their levels of development, their plans for the future, and their desired outcomes for the accreditation process. Therefore, schools seeking accreditation have a choice of protocols as described in the various brochures titled, "What is....?" The school’s assigned Agent of Responsibility will guide the school in its decision-making process.

STEP #5: Working with the Accreditation Protocol
Once the accreditation protocol has been chosen, the school will begin its self-study and planning activities. Typically, this is the most valuable and the most time-consuming aspect of the accreditation process. Most schools will need a minimum of one and often, two years, to fulfill the protocol requirements.

STEP #6: Team Visit
As the school nears completion of work on its self-study and planning processes, a team visit date will be established and the configuration of the visiting team will be determined. Normally, the date will be set at least six months before the actual visit.

The visiting team is composed of volunteer peer evaluators who are familiar with the type, size, and philosophy of the school to be evaluated; they will not, however, know the school itself. Team visits typically last for 3 ½ days. The host school is responsible for travel, lodging, and meal expenses of the evaluators. In addition, there is an Evaluation Preparation fee assessed by Middle States.

The school will receive both a brief oral report on the final day of the visit and a longer, more comprehensive written report about 2 months after the visit. The report will outline areas of strength and areas for improvement. It will often highlight whether all accreditation standards are met and will sometimes indicate the team’s recommendation to MSA for accreditation action.

STEP #7: Accreditation Action
Once Middle States receives the visiting team’s written report, the process of reviewing standards continues. The visiting team report and self-study/planning documents will be analyzed by staff and standards will be applied. Next, these documents will be evaluated by either a Reader or an appropriate Advisory Committee. Finally, various committees of the Commission(s) will review school, team, staff, and reader/ advisory committee documentation in order to make the final recommendation to the Commissions on accreditation action.

This process generally takes from 4-6 months. MSA believes that the multiple levels of review by the team, staff, reader/advisory committee and Commission committees are essential to ensure that fair and thorough attention is given to the accreditation decision. A school visited in the Spring will generally be acted on at the following Fall Commission meeting; a school visited in the Fall will be generally acted on at the following Spring Commission meeting.

When accreditation is granted, it is for a specific period of time, often five or ten years, depending upon the accreditation protocol used.

STEP #8: Accreditation Maintenance
An essential feature of the accreditation process is the requirement to maintain accreditation. Again, these requirements vary according to the accreditation protocol chosen. Typically, some type of maintenance activity will be required every 2-3 years and may be a written progress report, an onsite visit, a web-based report, or some combination of these three.

From start to finish, from candidacy to final accreditation, schools should expect the accreditation process to take at least two years.