Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
The
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, or
TRACS, is a national
accreditation agency located in
Forest, Virginia. TRACS is recognized by the
United States Department of Education and the
Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
TRACS was founded in 1979 to "promote the welfare, interests, and development of postsecondary institutions, whose mission is characterized by a distinctly Christian purpose." Furthermore, the group "encourages each affiliated institution to develop its own distinctives," while placing "emphasis on high academic standards as well as Christian values."
While TRACS started in 1979, it only applied for federal recognition in 1987.[
1] In 1987, recognition was denied, but in 1991, "
Education Secretary Lamar Alexander approved TRACS, despite his advisory panel's repeatedly recommending against recognition."[
2]
In 1993,
Steve Levicoff published a book-length critical discussion of TRACS,
When the TRACS Stop Short: An Evaluation and Critique of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, through the Institute on Religion and Law. According to a
Usenet post from Levicoff, the book occasioned a twenty minute telephone call from pastor and
Liberty University educator
Jerry Falwell, in which Falwell asked Levicoff to withdraw the book. Levicoff refused, and in the post credited the book with "hanging TRACS' reapproval by the
U.S. Department of Education up for almost two years. In time, Levicoff said, TRACS "straightened out its act somewhat." [
3]
Of the things criticized, TRACS gave accreditation to Jerry Falwell's
Liberty University and "created a category for schools which it called
associate schools." While this category "was not considered an official accreditation," according to Levicoff, TRACS lent its name to a number of "blatantly fraudulent institutions."[
4]
Another criticism was the 1991 granting of accreditation to the
Institute for Creation Research. One of TRACS' board members was
Henry Morris, founder of ICR. Timothy Sandefur, a critic of TRACS, has called Morris's position "highly questionable".
[Sandefur, Timothy, The Panda's Thumb, Posted March 29, 2004; URL accessed April 25, 2006.]In 1995, a federal review was conducted and resulted in probation which gave TRACS eighteen months to improve or be removed from the list of official accreditors. These improvements were made, including eliminating the 'associate schools' category and changing chairmen[
5].
In 2002, Timothy Sandefur argued that TRACS is "establishing criteria for accreditation which go beyond those standards arguably connected with the educational mission of a school." He cites the 1991 incident when
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools required racial diversity as a criteria for accreditation.[
6] Sandefur argues that TRACS goes beyond the educational accredition mission, when they expect people to believe in some of their biblical foundations. He argues that if MSACS had to drop non-educational criteria TRACS should too.
*
Council on Higher Education Accreditation*
List of recognized accreditation associations of higher learning*
School accreditation*
Regional accreditation*
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges, official site
*
Accredited institutions (by TRACS)
*
Institution Accreditation at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education
