Military
Education Solutions
About DETC
The Distance Education and Training
Council is a non-profit [501 c 6] educational association
located in Washington, D.C.
The Council was founded in 1926
to promote sound educational standards and ethical business
practices within the correspondence field. The independent nine-member
Accrediting Commission of the DETC was established in 1955;
shortly thereafter it gained the approval of the U.S. Department
of Education as the "nationally recognized accrediting
agency" under terms of Public Law. The Council for Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA) also recognizes the Accrediting
Commission.
With its 80-plus years of history
and its highly refined and federally recognized accreditation
program, DETC offers distance learning institutions the most
current, relevant and practical services for the 21st Century.
The Distance Education and Training
Council has been the standard-setting agency for distance education
institutions since it was established in 1926. Today, DETC member
institutions offer more than 500 different academic, vocational,
and avocational courses via distance learning modalities.
The DETC Accrediting Commission has been formally recognized by the State of Ohio Board of Regents and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
DETC
FACTS:
- Over
140 million alumni
- Serving the nation since 1926
- Founded: 1926, with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation
- Size: 100 distance institutions in 7 countries enrolling
over 3 million students
Recognitions: U.S. Secretary
of Education, 1959-present; National Commission on Accrediting,
1973-75; COPA, 1975-93; CORPA, 1993-98; CHEA, 2001-present.
Scope of Activity:
Accreditation of primarily distance
institutions at the non-degree postsecondary level and accreditation
of degree-awarding primarily distance institutions from the
associates through the professional doctoral degree levels;
includes Title IV authority for degree institutions.
Student Profile:
Most DETC graduates selected
the distance study method because it was the most convenient
way for them to learn. The largest percentage of students are
ages 41-45 and make $61-71,000 a year. 26% of degrees awarded
are at the Associate degree level, 27% are Bachelor's degrees,
37% are Master's degrees, 7% Juris Doctor, and 3% First Professional
Degree. It takes an average of 3.4 years for a DETC student
to earn a degree.
The Postsecondary Student
-Average Age is 34; 47% male, 53% female
-81% are employed at the time of enrollment
-40% have their tuition paid by employers
-85% have a high school diploma or GED certificate, 40% have
an associate's degree, 20% have a bachelor's degree, and 2%
have a master's degree
-The average lesson completion rate is 77%, the average graduation
rate is 71%
The Degree-Granting Student
-The average age is 37; 55% are male, 45% are female
-94% are employed at the time of enrollment
-38% have their tuition paid by employers
-The average lesson completion rate is 74%, the average graduation
rate is 69%
Graduate Satisfaction Rates:
A. Achieved their Goals: 98%
B. Felt Challenged: 98%
C. Would Recommend: 92%
Supervisor Satisfaction Rates:
A. Said DETC Graduate Compared
Favorably with Resident School Grad: 100%
B. Said Graduate Performs Better on the Job: 87%
C. Would Encourage Others to Enroll in Accredited Distance Education
Programs: 93%
How Difficult is it to Earn the DETC Seal?
Approximately 1 out of 3 applicants
eventually earns DETC accreditation. In the last 5 years, out
of over 100 applications, only 36 new institutions were accredited;
3 schools had accreditation withdrawn by DETC and 13 others
resigned, either voluntarily or with DETC pressure.
A Leader in National and
State Affairs
-DETC was responsible, in 1985,
for opening the door for all nationally accredited schools to
become eligible for military tuition reimbursement funding for
active and reserve military members.
-DETC was the only national accrediting agency to gain recognition
from the National Commission on Accrediting, the predecessor
non-government association of institutional accreditors to the
Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA)
-DETC was the first of the national accrediting agencies to
forge a partnership with the American Council on Education's
college credit recommendation program.
-DETC served on the CHEA Task Force on Credit Transfer (see
CHEA's "Transfer and the Public Interest," www.chea.org
-DETC actively supports the NASASPS and has presented at 6 NASASPS
Annual Conferences in the past decade
-DETC has executed an agreement for dual accreditation for its
institutions with the Middle States Association-Commission on
Secondary Schools
-DETC has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wisconsin
Educational Approval Board which accepts DETC accreditation
in lieu of EAB review for all non-Wisconsin distance institutions
enrolling Wisconsin students
-DETC has acceptance from the California Bureau of Private Postsecondary
and Vocational Education (BPPVE) where BPPVE accepts DETC evaluations
and reports in lieu BPPVE reports.
-DETC's Executive Director serves on the CHEA Commission on International Accreditation, the CHEA Advisory Board on Specialized and National Accreditation; the CHEA/UNESCO International Task Force on Diploma Mills, and serves as the Vice Chair of the Servicemembers Opportunity College (SOC) Advisory Board.
-DETC consults with the Office
of the Secretary of Defense on tuition assistance matters that
affect all accredited institutions. The DETC Executive Director
was the Chair of the DoD Task Force on Principles of Good Practice
for Distance Learning.
A Few Famous Alumni
-Industrialist Walter Chrysler
-Senators Barry Goldwater and Stuart Symington
-President Franklin D. Roosevelt
-South African President Nelson Mandella
-Cartoonist Charles Shultz
-Playwright Clifford Odets
Learn more about DETC:
The
Association
The Accrediting
Commission
