VOA慢速英语20061005a

EDUCATION REPORT - Accrediting² Agencies³ Play Important Part in U.S. Higher EducationBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, October 05, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Education Report. And this is the fifth week of our Foreign Student Series about higher education in the United States.




Earlier, we talked about the first steps to take if you want to study in America. We also discussed the differences between a college and a university. And we looked at online education.

We said last week that students should find out if a school that interests them is accredited⁴. But just what does that mean?

Accreditation⁵ is a process. The goal for a college or university is to show that its programs meet accepted levels of quality. The United States Department of Education does not accredit¹ schools. But the law requires the secretary of education to publish a list of private accrediting agencies recognized as dependable.

Accrediting agencies are nonprofit organizations. They develop educational goals, then they examine schools to make sure those goals are met.

The first step in the process is for a college or university to request accreditation. Then the school does a study of itself to measure its performance against the requirements.

The accrediting agency⁶ sends a team of specialists who decide if the school meets the standards. The agency will observe an accredited college or university every few years.

Schools must be accredited in order for students to receive government financial aid. Accreditation also makes it easier for students to move credits⁷ from one school to another. And going to an accredited school can help in getting a good job later.

One accrediting agency is the Council⁸ for Higher Education Accreditation. It says the United States has more than four thousand accredited colleges and universities that award degrees. More than two thousand five hundred other accredited programs do not award degrees.

The agency's Web site lists schools and programs that are accredited by recognized organizations in the United States. And it talks about when to a suspect that a program is not really accredited. The address is c-h-e-a dot o-r-g (chea.org). Again, c-h-e-a dot org.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. You can find the earlier reports in our series at voaspecialenglish dot com. Next week, learn about government rules for students who want to study in the United States. I'm Steve Ember.

1 accredit   

vt.归功于，认为

参考例句：

• The president will accredit you as his assistant.董事长将任命你做他的助理。
• We accredit the invention of the electric light to Adison.我们把电灯的发明归功于爱迪生。

2 accrediting   

v.相信( accredit的现在分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• One accrediting agency is the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 有一个资信鉴定机构是为了高等教育的。 来自互联网
• One accrediting agency is Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 高等教育授权委员会就是这样一个授权机构。 来自互联网

3 agencies   

n.代理( agency的名词复数 )；服务机构；（政府的）专门机构；代理（或经销）业务（或关系）

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations. 联合国有许多专门机构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The project is funded by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. 这项计划由世界银行和其他多国机构资助。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

5 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

6 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

7 credits   

n.节目前后字幕；信任，信用，声望，荣誉， [财务]贷方，银行存款；信任( credit的名词复数 )；存款；学分；（借钱偿还的）信誉link-v.相信，信任，把…归给

参考例句：

• He credits me with having better sense than that. 他认为我的见识要比那强得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does this item go among the credits or the debits? 这笔账应记入贷方还是借方？ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。