About the Distance Education and Training Council

DETC - Distance Education & Training Council

The Association

The Accrediting Commission

The Accreditation Process

The Association

The Distance Education and Training Council has been the standard-setting agency for correspondence study and distance education institutions since it was established in 1926. Its purpose was, and still is today, "to foster and preserve high quality, educationally sound and widely accepted distance education and independent learning institutions."

The DETC Accrediting Commission performs the institutional accrediting functions of the DETC. DETC member institutions offer more than 500 different academic, vocational, and avocational courses by mail or by telecommunications. These courses often make use of specially written learning texts and quite often include audio-visual training devices, job enhancing materials, tools, computers, and other equipment. Course length ranges from a few weeks to over four years of study. Although most distance study institutions teach students entirely "at distance," some institutions offer courses which feature a combination of distance study and resident training. DETC institutions vary in size. Various Armed Forces distance study institutions have enrollments of more than 200,000 students, while other schools may have fewer than 200 students.

The DETC conducts a continuing professional development program for distance study educators. Seminars and conferences devoted to distance education are held each year and are open to any individual with an interest in distance education.

Mission Statement

The DETC is a voluntary, non-governmental, educational organization that operates a nationally recognized accrediting association, the DETC Accrediting Commission.

The DETC Accrediting Commission defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence in distance education. The Commission fosters quality assurance, protection of the rights of the students and institutional self-improvement through voluntary accreditation via peer evaluation. DETC accreditation aims to instill public confidence in DETC institutions’ missions, goals, performances and resources through a rigorous and fair application and peer-developed accreditation standards.

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Our Vision

The DETC is the preeminent accrediting association for distance education and training institutions worldwide. It is a resource for distance learning institutions, encouraging them to strive for excellence in fulfilling their missions.

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Our Core Values

DETC is guided by these Core Values:

Student-Focused
Excellence
Leadership
Integrity
Independence
Volunteerism
Peer-Review

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Officers

DETC OFFICERS:

The DETC Accrediting Commission governs the Distance Education and Training Council. The officers are:

	Timothy Mott Chair, Director, Off-Campus Programs, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
	Mary Adams Vice Chair, President, American Sentinel University
	Michael P. Lambert* Secretary and Executive Director
	Brook Ellis* Treasurer , Gemological Institute of America

*Not members of the Commission

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Committees

The DETC Accrediting Commission Chair appoints all standing committees. The committees are:

Standards Committee

This purpose of this committee is to investigate educational problems unique to distance education and training fields, to survey the efficiency and effectiveness of instructional methods and procedures and to recommend to the Commission policies, standards and practices to govern the members of the Council. This committee shall also seek to further the observance by the members of the Council of ethical practices and business standards, and investigate and make recommendations on the standards of ethical conduct to the Commission.

Awards and Recognition Committee

The duties of this committee are to determine the individual or individuals who shall receive awards or other recognition of distinguished service to the distance education and training fields. The Commission shall determine which awards or other recognition of distinguished service shall be given; however, the selection of the award recipients shall be the sole responsibility of the committee.

Finance, Budget and Audit Committee

The duties of this committee are to study and recommend methods of determining equitable dues and fees. The committee shall also have the responsibility of preparing an annual budget for approval by the Commission and presentation to the Council at the annual meeting.

Nominating Committee

The Chair of the Commission will appoint a committee charged with nominating officers and replacement members to the Accrediting Commission. Public members of the Commission and the Commission's officers will be elected by the Commission itself and Commissioners from DETC-accredited institutions will be elected by members of the Council.

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DETC History

The Distance Education and Training Council: Over Eight Decades of Service

Since 1926, the DETC (formerly National Home Study Council) has evolved continuously as a highly respected public service organization dedicated to identifying quality distance learning institutions. Over 135 million Americans have enrolled in DETC institutions since 1890.

Today, DETC is comprised of more than 100 distance education institutions located in 21 states and 7 countries. DETC institutions include non-profit institutions, trade associations, for profit companies, colleges and universities, and military organizations.

The range of institutions in the DETC makes it unique. There are universities owned by national governments, schools dedicated to offering tuition-free programs for the blind, church-owned schools of theology, and schools teaching in Spanish and even a university in Japan that offers degrees in translation.

DETC accredits some of the very largest educational institutions in the world, including the military distance learning institutes operated by the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps. Since World War II, millions of veterans have studied with DETC institutions earning degrees and job-enhancing skills as they prepared to re-enter the workforce.

Within DETC's ranks are two century-old distance high schools, Griggs International Academy and Penn Foster High School, some of the world's largest education institutions (in terms of students enrolled), a school that teaches the blind using Braille and tapes, a university owned by a consortia of 19 state governors, the Western Governors University, and an association of jewelers that sends diamonds to its distance students to practice their appraisal skills. DETC also accredits Deakin University, a government-owned universitiy in Australia.

One DETC member, the International Correspondence Schools (now called Penn Foster Career Schools) donated its curricula to the U.S. Marine Corps in 1920 to help in the launching the Marine Corps Institute in Washington, DC. For years the MCI diplomas were co-signed by the President of ICS and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In 1926, ICS repeated its gesture and donated its curricula to the Coast Guard Institute.

More than 4 million students are enrolled in DETC institutions, and over 500 fields of study are offered, ranging from accounting to yacht design. DETC institutions offer instruction at the Kindergarten through the Professional Doctoral Degree level (e.g., Doctor of Business Administration and the Doctor of Education.)

Famous alumni of DETC institutions include industrialist Walter Chrysler, Senators Barry Goldwater and Stuart Symington, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, WWI war hero Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, cartoonist Charles Schutz, South African President Nelson Mandela, playwright Clifford Odets, and millions of other men, women and children. Dozens of entertainers, ice skating stars and tennis professionals earned their high school diplomas from DETC institutions.

DETC has enjoyed the official recognition of the U.S. Secretary of Education since 1959, and since 1975, DETC has been recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or its predecessor organizations.

The foundation of all modern distance education theory and practice was correspondence instruction, which started in this country in the 1870s. Correspondence study has evolved over the decades and pioneered or perfected many instructional methods and tactics now taken for granted, including convenient, at home learning anytime or anyplace, self-paced scheduling, self-testing in textbooks, and “action learning” in the workplace, where curricula coverage matches up with job duties and hands on applications.

DETC institutions have been cutting edge in their visionary approach, were offering at home instruction in law in 1908, radio electronics in 1914, in television electronics in 1935, robotics in 1975 and microcomputer repair in 1976. The first use of online learning in DETC was 1986, when the Gemological Institute of America created its GIA NET that combined telephone links and personal computers.

Prior to WWII, the majority of CPAs in many American states learned their craft from DETC accounting schools. A large number of America’s yacht designers are alumni of DETC’s Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology.

Today, DETC institutions make use of a diverse variety of media to provide up to date and performance-based learning, including the Internet and its entire array of tools.

As the 21st century gets underway, we see that distance education growing at a record rate in terms of new providers, burgeoning student enrollments, global audiences, and near limitless potential for bringing the finest learning and finest faculty right to every student’s home or office. No longer place bound or schedule bound, learners are going “back to school” again by the millions, and DETC institutions are on the leading edge of this education evolution.

A documentary on the DETC and its history now is available to view online.