Probably the toughest task the Board of Control gave Victor Spathelf was that of getting Ferris Institute accredited by the appropriate agencies -- particularly the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, now known as the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Spathelf and the Board of Control knew that the accreditation of the Institute, particularly by the North Central Association, would provide many additional advantages to the faculty and students of the school.
Accreditation agencies had come to exercise a significant influence on the students' choice of colleges.
Accreditation agencies had come to exercise a significant influence on the choice by students of the colleges and universities they would attend through the agencies' determination of acceptability of the product of the institution, and its eligibility for participation in programs sponsored by the federal government, philanthropic organizations and foundations.
To the prospective faculty member, accreditation could be the deciding factor in the choice of a teaching assignment. To the student, accreditation would be of special significance in transferring credits from one college to another or in entering a graduate school.
At this time a significant number of Ferris students were entering graduate schools or colleges of medicine, dentistry and law. Some of them were having difficulty in getting into graduate or professional schools. These students did not always get into the university of their choice or they had to take an additional year at the university to "prove themselves." Accreditation of Ferris would not erase the problems, but it would help.
A significant number of students were entering graduate schools.
The accreditation would give teacher education graduates credentials for teaching in accredited high schools, and faculty and students would be eligible for membership in national organizations where accreditation was required before chartering was allowed.
In the training of veterans the accredited college was in a different category of approval than a non-accredited college, and accreditation of some of the professional areas of the college was often contingent on the accreditation of the pre-professional areas.
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