American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions (AAATI) is a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 nonprofit accreditation mill

Accreditation mill

An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low...

, based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...

. It was formed in 1983. It is operated by Cecil Johnson

Cecil Johnson

Cecil Johnson is a former professional American football player who played linebacker for nine seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...

, president of Christian Bible College, a distance education

Distance education

Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

 Bible college

Bible college

Bible colleges are institutions of higher education that specialize in biblical studies. Curriculum is Bible-based and differs from that of liberal arts colleges or research universities. Bible colleges generally exclude the study of philosophy, unlike seminaries and theological colleges...

 based in Rocky Mount that Levicoff identifies as a diploma mill

Diploma mill

A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...

.

AAATI is not recognized as an accreditor by either the United States Department of Education

United States Department of Education

The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

 and Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Council for Higher Education Accreditation

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...

.

Affiliated institutions

Institutions that have claimed membership in, or accreditation from, the AAATI include:

• Alpha Omega Bible College & Seminary Inc., Elkton, South Dakota and Shalom Bible College & Seminary, West Des Moines, Iowa
• Christian Bible College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina
• International Institute of Church Management Inc., based in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, USA, and Chennai, India
• Liberty Bible College and Seminary
• National Chaplains Institute's Biblical Life College and Seminary (distance education)
• Oval Bible College
• Pacific International University
  Pacific International University
  Pacific International University was an unaccredited, conservative, Christian university and seminary located in Springfield, Missouri. 1989 alumnus of Pacific International University Carl Baugh was the university president...
  
  
• Slidell Baptist Seminary
• Therapon University
• White Horse School of Ministry, West Lafayette, Indiana
• Zion Ministerial Institute

External links

• Council for Higher Education Accreditation – Official website