The Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), formerly the National Home Study Council and then as the Distance Education and Training Council, is a private and non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of (51 percent or more)[1] distance education programs of study and institutions. The DEAC is recognized as a U.S. institutional accreditor by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).