Frequently Asked Questions

An accredited school has met an external set of rigorous set of standards and processes, which eases the process of transferring credits from one school to another as well as gaining greater access to federal loans, scholarships, postsecondary education and military programs that require attendance at an accredited institution.

Yes, all of DoDEA’s schools are accredited through Cognia.

The status, based on published indicators, identify how well a school has addressed the standards.

A DoDEA school has never lost its accreditation. As an organization that serves our Nation’s Service Members, we have a sacred responsibility to ensure we provide a quality education for our students. All efforts would be made to correct any unsatisfactory ratings to ensure accreditation would not be lost.

DoDEA is affiliated with Cognia the parent company of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). CASI).

DoDEA chose Cognia because Cognia is the world’s largest education community, serving more than 30,000 public and private schools and districts across the United States and in more than 70 countries that educate over 16 million students.

The Cognia accreditation processes and procedures are research-based and rigorous.

Students and parents will:

• Experience ease in transferring credits from one school to another.
• Gain greater access to federal loans, scholarships, postsecondary education and military programs that require students attend an accredited institution.
• Benefit from their school’s commitment of raising student performance and accountability.

If a school is in danger of losing its accreditation, the system/school has twelve months to make substantial changes, based on the external report, to make the changes.

A DoDEA school has never lost accreditation.

Yes, there are instances where schools in the U.S. have lost their accreditation. The students in these schools would receive a non-accredited diploma which could make admission into a college or university more difficult. Federal grants and loans and some scholarships are only available to students from accredited institutions.

Accreditation is a voluntary dual-purpose process that schools (1) must be worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high-quality learning opportunities and (2) clearly demonstrate continual self-improvement.

An accredited school is focused on a mission and goals for students; it is student-oriented and examines its students' performance continuously; it accepts objective evaluation from a team of outside peer professionals; it maintains a qualified faculty within an effectively organized school; it collaboratively assesses the quality of its educational programs on a regular basis; and it plans for the future.

Everyone. Accreditation is a valuable service to the public, students and educational institutions themselves. For example: 

• The public is assured that accredited institutions are evaluated extensively and conform to general expectations of performance and quality. Because accreditation requires continual self-evaluation, frequent reports, and periodic external review, the public can be assured that the educational quality of programs and services offered by the institution are current, reflect high standards of quality, and are offered with integrity.
• Students can be assured that the institutions in which they seek to enroll have been reviewed and the educational programs that are offered have been evaluated for quality and currentness.
• Educational institutions benefit from the stimulus for self-study and self-improvement provided by the accreditation process.
• Also helpful is the ongoing counsel provided by the accreditation commissions and the hundreds of peer experts used in the process of external evaluation.
• Accreditation status also increases opportunities for public and private funding for both the institution and students and enhances the institution's credibility and reputation.