A New Plan for Accrediting

T HE North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, at its annual meeting on April I9, adopted a new plan for accrediting institutions of higher education. The revolutionary character of the plan will be suggested by the fact that it is written without using the concept of standards, as this term has been widely employed in accrediting practices. Without involving the use of standards the new plan provides for accrediting an institution upon the basis of its total pattern and permits certain excellent characteristics to compensate for deficiencies in others. No single deficiency in the total pattern will bar an institution from membership if there is evidence of high quality in other areas. A section of the new statement of policy sponsored by the Association reads as follows

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