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Private School Accreditation
General Information
The Florida Department of Education does not accredit, regulate, approve, or license K-12 private schools. Additionally, the Florida Department of Education does not officially recognize any of the various agencies that accredit private schools.
Section 1002.42, Florida Statutes, requires K-12 private schools to register with the department by completing an annual survey each year and explicitly provides that submitting annual survey data and being listed in the directory of private schools should not be used by any private school to imply approval or accreditation by the state.
There are many organizations with widely variant quality standards and program requirements that accredit private schools. Requests for information about the accreditation of a specific school should be directed to the school staff or its designated accrediting agency. The acceptance of diplomas from private schools will be subject to the requirements of the receiving educational institution or employer.
Accrediting Agencies
While, as stated, the Florida Department of Education does not officially recognize any of the various accrediting agencies that accredit private schools, several accrediting organizations have been listed in the Florida Statutes in conjunction with the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program and a number of accrediting associations are recognized by the Florida High School Athletic Association for purposes of membership.
Section 1002.55,(3)(b)1., Florida Statutes, states that a private school participating in the VPK Program must be accredited by an accrediting association that is a member of one of the following associations of accrediting organizations:
National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA)
Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA)
Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic School (FAANS)
According to the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Bylaws Article 3 related to membership, a senior high school or middle/junior high school located in the state of Florida may become a member if the school is accredited by an agency approved by the FHSAA.
More information is available on the FHSAA website at: http://www.fhsaa.org/membership/
The FHSAA has approved the following accreditation organizations:
- Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI)
- Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF)
- Christian Schools of Florida
- Council of Bilingual Schools (COBIS)
- Episcopal Diocese of Florida
- Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (FACCS)
- Florida Catholic Conference
- Florida Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist Schools
- Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS)
- Florida League of Christian Schools
- Lutheran Schools Florida-Georgia District (FLGA-LCMS)
- National Independent Private School Association (NIPSA)
- Florida Coalition of Christian Private Schools Association (FCCPSA)
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)