Accreditation & regulatory consulting · All 50 states
Accreditation guidance from people who have sat in the owner’s chair.
Accreditation Expert Consulting works with colleges, universities, career schools, allied health institutions, workforce training providers and other education organizations that need clear, practical guidance through state authorization, accreditation and regulatory compliance.
The firm is led by Dr. Ramin Golbaghi, a former college founder and operator with more than 20 years in higher education. He has carried the same responsibility institutional leaders carry: building programs, preparing regulatory submissions, hosting site visits, responding to findings, and keeping a school operating under several layers of oversight.
- +20Years of higher education, regulatory, academic and consulting experience
- +200Schools and institutions advised
- 57Initial accreditation and reaffirmation engagements
- +100Self-studies prepared or supported
- 63Site visit readiness engagements
- +400Deficiency, compliance and corrective action responses
- +325Non-degree and degree-level curricula developed or aligned
- 50States covered for authorization research and consulting
Most institutions do not fail on writing. They fail on evidence.
Accreditation review, site visits and self-study evidence
AEC was created for a simple reason. Too many institutions enter an approval or accreditation process with good intentions but incomplete systems. Some have policies that do not match daily practice. Others have strong programs but weak evidence. Some submit before they are ready and spend months correcting problems that could have been identified earlier.
Our role is to give institutional leaders a clear view of where they stand. We study the applicable requirements, review what the institution has already built, and identify the gaps that could create difficulty during application review or a site visit. Then we work with the people responsible for the institution to correct those gaps in a way they can understand and maintain.
We write and review documents, but we do not stop there. We ask whether the faculty files support the catalog, whether the curriculum matches the stated outcomes, whether the website agrees with the enrollment agreement, whether leadership can explain its own policies, and whether the evidence exists to show that the policy is actually being followed.
Your staff has to be able to run this after we leave.
A well-written application matters, but it is only credible when the institution’s policies, people, records, technology, finances, curriculum and daily practices support what the application says. Our work begins there.
A consultant can guide, draft, review, organize and prepare. Institutional leaders must understand, approve, implement and maintain the systems represented in an application or self-study. We do not create an institution that exists only for review.
When your name is on the application, accreditation feels different.
Dr. Ramin Golbaghi — founder, Coast Career College
Before establishing Accreditation Expert Consulting, Dr. Golbaghi founded and led Coast Career College, a private postsecondary institution in Southern California. As the institution’s chief executive, he was responsible for academic development, curriculum, regulatory submissions, institutional policies, compliance systems, site visit preparation, and the daily decisions required to keep a school operating.
You have to know whether the evidence is complete, whether the staff understands the policy, and whether the institution can do in practice what it promises on paper. That experience continues to shape the way AEC serves its clients.
Read the full biography and meet the teamEvery approval pathway, treated on its own terms.
State authorization, institutional accreditation, Title IV, VA and SEVP
State authorization, accreditation, Title IV participation, VA education benefits, workforce eligibility and SEVP certification are separate processes. We use the correct terminology for each one.
Authorization to operate
- State authorization & new institution development State regulatory agency · BPPE in California
- Approval research across all 50 states Each state sets its own rules for postsecondary institutions
Accreditation
- Initial institutional accreditation National, regional and programmatic accreditors
- Reaffirmation & programmatic accreditation Institutional and programmatic accrediting commissions
- Self-study & evidence preparation Prepared by the institution, reviewed by the accreditor
- Site visit readiness Accreditor or state evaluation team
- Corrective action & deficiency response Findings, stipulations, monitoring and show-cause matters
Federal & specialized approvals
- Title IV participation U.S. Department of Education
- VA education benefits approval State Approving Agency
- Workforce training eligibility I-TRAIN and state ETPL under WIOA
- International student certification SEVP · Department of Homeland Security
Institutional capacity
- Curriculum Development Non-degree through doctoral level · clock and credit hour
- Governance & institutional effectiveness Often begins as a governance, financial, technology, staffing or communication problem
- Enterprise & compliance risk Operational continuity and responsible growth
Agency names identify the standards our client institutions work under. They do not indicate endorsement, affiliation with, or approval of Accreditation Expert Consulting by those agencies.
Every recommendation traces to a standard, a regulation, or an agency letter.
Standards, regulations and agency guidance
Recommendations should be supported by applicable standards, regulations, agency guidance, institutional records and actual operating practice. That is the test we apply to an institution’s file, and the test we apply to our own advice.
Where is your institution right now?
Show-cause response, site visits, reaffirmation and new-school authorization
No two engagements are identical. The work depends on your location, accreditor, program mix, delivery method, ownership structure, approval status and immediate regulatory objective. Start where you are.
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We received findings or a show-cause notice
A clear account of what happened, why it happened, what has changed, who is responsible, and how the correction will be monitored.
Show-cause and deficiency response -
A site visit is on the calendar
Readiness reviews, mock interviews, document testing, staff preparation, technology checks and file sampling before reviewers arrive.
Site visit readiness -
Reaffirmation is coming up
Standards interpretation, assigned responsibility, self-study narrative, exhibits and evidence mapping that a reviewer can locate and follow.
Reaffirmation and self-study -
We are opening a new school
Regulatory pathway research, application preparation, governance documents, catalogs, enrollment agreements and a realistic assessment of readiness to operate.
All State -
We are adding Title IV, VA or SEVP
Separate approval systems, each with its own terminology, documentation and operating expectations — prepared and sequenced accordingly.
Federal and specialized approvals
Who we serve
- Colleges and universities
- Career and vocational schools
- Allied health and healthcare education
- Online and distance education providers
- Continuing education organizations
- Workforce training providers
- International education organizations
- Founders preparing to open a new school
- Institutions facing substantive change or expansion
We begin by understanding these facts rather than forcing every client into the same template.
Start with an honest readiness assessment.
Readiness assessment for accreditation, authorization and site visits
Regulatory problems often begin long before an application is filed. They begin when a school develops programs, policies, agreements, websites, staffing plans or financial projections without first confirming what the responsible agency or accreditor requires.
Whether you are opening a new school, pursuing accreditation, preparing for reaffirmation, developing a new program, expanding into another state, responding to deficiencies or getting ready for a site visit, the right first step is a candid assessment of your current position.
Not ready to talk yet
Professional disclaimer. Accreditation Expert Consulting provides educational, accreditation and regulatory consulting services. AEC does not accredit, authorize, certify or approve anything. Those decisions belong to the applicable government agencies, accrediting organizations and regulators. Consulting services do not guarantee approval or accreditation. Degrees, licenses, prior positions and agency names on this site belong to the individuals named and identify their experience only. They are not an endorsement by, or affiliation with, any organization named.
