| For web-based criminology and criminal | | | | Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and |
| justice related distance education programs, | | | | Panama), the North Central Association of |
| the Criminal Justice Distance Learning | | | | Colleges and Schools (Arkansas, Arizona, |
| Consortium (CJDLC) has laid down | | | | Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, |
| accreditation guidelines. These guidelines | | | | Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, |
| are themselves based on those developed by | | | | Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South |
| the Southern Regional Electronic Campus | | | | Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia and |
| (SREC), the Academy of Criminal Justice | | | | Wyoming), the Western Association of Schools |
| Sciences (ACJS) and regional academic | | | | and Colleges (California, Hawaii, the |
| acrrediting agencies including thezz Southern | | | | territories of Guam, American Samoa, |
| Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) | | | | Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of |
| and the Western Association of Colleges and | | | | Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas |
| Schools. The CJDLC guidelines without | | | | Islands, the Pacific Basin and East Asia) and |
| actually duplicating them, incorporate the | | | | the Northwest Association of Schools and |
| basics of these organizations. The premise is | | | | Colleges (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, |
| that the applying institutions have already | | | | Oregon, Utah and Washington). |
| fulfilled the quality standards of these | | | | |
| local and regional accrediting agencies. | | | | There are also two additional bodies within |
| | | | the main RA, which are behind the Best |
| Regional Accrediting agencies refer to six | | | | Practices movement in distance education and |
| main bodies, the New England Association of | | | | include the Western Association's Accrediting |
| Schools and Colleges (Connecticut, Maine, | | | | Commission for Senior Colleges and |
| Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island | | | | Universities and North Central's Higher |
| and Vermont), the Southern Association of | | | | Learning Commission. |
| Colleges and Schools (Alabama, Florida, | | | | |
| Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, | | | | Accreditation from any of these eight groups |
| North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, | | | | is considered to be the best accreditation |
| Texas and Virginia), the Middle States | | | | possible for a school. They are also |
| Association of Colleges and Schools | | | | recipients of the US Department of Education |
| (Delaware, the District of Columbia, | | | | funding and their method of operation is |
| Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, | | | | mainly by site visit-peer review. |