Founded in 1997, the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX) is a professional accrediting association established to uphold and maintain high standards for all levels of online postsecondary education. Though distance learning is thought by some to be significantly changing higher education, it is not a new phenomenon. Its predecessors are the correspondence courses that have spanned this century, providing education for those learners who could not pursue a traditional education. Yesterday's correspondence courses depended on written materials transmitted between teacher and learner by mail; today's education courses depend on the multitude of constantly changing communication technologies that can transmit instruction and relay materials between learner and teacher. These technologies have taken shape at a very rapid pace, erasing traditional barriers of time, space and place and represent the capacity to fundamentally change the standard for transmitting knowledge and skills from master to learner. For reasons of access, economy, effectiveness and convenience, online learning is sweeping higher education and, in the view of some, changing the role of traditional learning to a marketplace that some institutions would prefer not to enter. Whether one is for or against distance learning, one cannot escape its impact. Nearly half of the college students in this country are of the age group once thought of as non-traditional. They are adults, 80% of whom work full-time and they are primarily coming to college for many reasons, including economic advancement, accomplishment of educational degree goals and personal enrichment. Many of these students are attracted by the convenience and flexibility of online education programs -- a perfect fit for their busy lives. They are not alone, however; evidence indicates that many students of a more "traditional" age find distance learning attractive and that the population seeking postsecondary education is growing faster than the current institutions ability to meet the demand. Since the accrediting process serves to validate an institution's commitment to quality assurance and continuous improvement, the purpose of the AOAEX is to provide a level of acceptability of college degrees which will undergo much of the same scrutiny as the evaluation of conventional campus-based programs.

Accreditation by the AOAEX provides assurance to the public, in particular to prospective students, that an institution has been found to meet the association's requirements and criteria and that there are reasonable grounds for believing that it will continue to meet them.

Accreditation provides certification of acceptable institutional quality as well as an opportunity and incentive for self-improvement in the accredited institutions. The AOAEX reaches the conclusion that an institution meets its requirements and criteria only after the institution opens itself to examination. Moreover, for the accredited institution, the process of accreditation provides an opportunity for critical self-analysis leading to improvement in quality.

The colleges and universities that gain accreditation by the AOAEX are committed to provide qualified degreed students that meet or exceed the qualifications of traditionally accredited universities.

To be accredited by the AOAEX, an institution must provide full degree programs by online learning. Whether or not the institution offers traditional campus-based learning is not relevant.

The integrity, reliability and opportunities for student career advancement are of primary concern when evaluating a school for possible accreditation.