The Graduate University of America, New School of Positive Psychology is pleased
to be a leader in the fields of positive psychology, neuropsychology, and positive
neuropsychology.
Degree and board certification programs are accredited by the Board of Standards
of The American Positive Psychology Association (www.amppa.org). The American
Positive Psychology Association is recognized by the U. S. Department of Education.
We are also a member of the prestigious University Consortium.
The Graduate University of America, New School of Positive Psychology follows
the standards of the following accrediting bodies:
The Council for Adult Experiential Learning
The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The American Council on Education
The Distance Education and Training Council
Accreditation Executive Summary
“…the (U.S. Department of Education) makes no distinction between
accreditation bodies, giving all equal standing.” (From Wikipedia)
1. Accreditation and authority to operate are widely misunderstood by members
of the public. This confusion is exacerbated by functionaries of the traditional
system who misrepresent the facts in order to retain their control, power
and access to public money. Most of all, state government officials and people
who oppose freedom of education are opposed to nontraditional alternatives
to the existing system.
2. Accreditation in the United States is NOT a function of either the state or
federal governments.
3. Authority to operate is a function of state governments, not the federal
government.
4. The states vary widely in the extent to which they either do or don’t regulate
private institutions of higher education.
5. Some states DO NOT REGULATE private institutions of higher education at all.
6. The federal government is constitutionally prohibited from regulating private
higher education in the states.
7. The public can easily protect itself with relatively simple inquiries into the
credentials of an educational institution and its graduates.
Some Details from Wikipedia
“Education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which
services and operations of an educational institution or program are evaluated
by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met. Should standards
be met, accredited status is granted by the agency. In the United States…the quality
assurance process is independent of government and performed by private
membership associations.
When discussing accreditation in the United States, it is important that the concept
of accreditation not be confused with authority to operate. The authority to operate
an educational entity in the U.S. is granted by the First Amendments guarantee of
free speech.
“Therefore, the authority of the U.S. Department of Education does not extend to
authorizing schools to operate, to enroll students, or to award degrees. In addition,
the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is not responsible for accreditation
of institutions, NOR is the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA),
a non-governmental organization. Both recognize reputable accrediting
agencies for institutions of higher education and provide guidelines as well as
resources and relevant data.
In the United States, education accreditation has long been established as a
peer review process coordinated by accreditation commissions and the members.
“…the U.S. Department of Education officially states, it does not accredit schools.
Instead, accreditation commissions are formed, funded, and operated by their
members to create an academic community that is self-regulating.
“…The federal government makes no distinction between accreditation bodies, giving
all equal standing. There is no similar federal government list of recognized
accreditation agencies for primary and secondary schools. There is wide variation
among the individual states in the requirements applied to non-public primary
and secondary schools.”
From the Office of Postsecondary Education,
US Department of Education: “Accreditation
in the United States.”
(Start quote) “The United States has NO federal ministry of education or other centralized
authority exercising single national control over postsecondary education institutions in
this country. The states assume varying degrees of control over education, but, in general,
institutions of higher education are permitted to operate with considerable independence
and autonomy. As a consequence, American education institutions can vary widely in the
character and quality of their programs. Accreditation DOES NOT provide automatic
acceptance by an institution of credit earned at another institution, NOR does it give
assurance of acceptance by graduates by employers. Acceptance of students or
graduates is always the prerogative of the receiving institutions or employer. For these
reasons, besides ascertaining the accredited status of a school or program, students
should take additional measures to determine, prior to enrollment, whether or not their
educational goals will be met through attendance at a particular institution.” (End quote)
Our Degrees are Widely Accepted
Our degree programs are widely recognized and accepted by private companies, public
companies, charities, nonprofit organizations, law firms, CPA firms, consulting firms,
hospitals and other health care facilities, schools, colleges, universities, government
agencies, the federal government, state governments, and city governments.
Academic Fallacies
“Since a college’s or universities academic prestige (unfortunately) depends primarily
on its professor’s research and publications, students will not … get a better education
at the more prestigious institutions with the higher paid faculty…””One of the biggest
fallacies about academic institutions is that attendance at big-name colleges and
universities is virtually essential for reaching the top later in life.”
“The four institutions with the highest percentage of their undergraduates going on to
receive PhDs are all small colleges, with less than 2,000 undergraduates …
Some have fewer than 1,000 students…”
“Of the chief executive officers of the 50 largest American corporations surveyed in
2006, only four had Ivy League degrees and just over half graduated from
state colleges, city colleges, or a community college.”
“Some, including Michael Dell and Bill Gates did not graduate at all!”*
* Economic Facts and Fallacies by Dr. Thomas Sowell