Accrediting Commission International

Accrediting Commission International (ACI), also known as Accrediting Commission International for Schools, Colleges, and Theological Seminaries, is an unrecognized independent educational accreditation group based in Beebe, Arkansas, primarily accrediting religious schools including seminaries and Bible colleges, but also offering accreditation to non-U.S. schools that offer business education programs.

International Accrediting Commission was an accreditation mill run by George S. Reuter Jr. Reuter was fined $15,000 by the State of Missouri in an undercover sting operation when he offered to "accredit" a school in Missouri.Steve Levicoff. "Name It and Frame It?". (3rd edition) Institute on Religion and Law. 1993 (page 34) ASIN B0006F1PCQ] Reuter retired and paid the fee, but later transferred the agency to John Scheel who moved the company to Beebe, Arkansas and changed the name to Accrediting Commission International for Schools, Colleges, and Theological Seminaries. Today the Accrediting Commission International remains unrecognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. [ [http://www.chea.org Council for Higher Education Accreditation] ] According to its website, ACI has not applied for U.S. Department of Education recognition because some of its member schools are concerned about maintaining separation of church and state. [http://www.accreditnow.com/default.aspx?page=0-introduction&main=&selected=pnl1Item0-0 Other benefits and steps toward ACI certification] , ACI website (accessed August 11, 2007)]

The University of North America was ordered to pay $2.5 million dollars for "claiming accreditation by the International Accrediting Commission". Once the operation was closed, the operator of University of North America, Edward Perry Reddeck (who served prison time for educational fraud) "moved to Utah and reopened his degree mill under the name North American University. That operation was closed and Reddeck opened the Gold Coast University.

See also

* Diploma mill
* List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
* List of unrecognized accreditation associations of higher learning

References

* Levicoff, Steve "Name It and Frame It? New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills" (1995)
* Bear, John "Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning" (Ten Speed Press, 2001).

Links

* [http://www.accreditnow.com/ Accrediting Commission International] Official
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/dm3.html The Case of IAC, ACI, and The Three Stooges] by John Bear (mentions Accrediting Commission International)