ASAE The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the world's leading membership organization for the association management profession, and Microsoft formed an alliance designed to build technology knowledge and leadership within the nation's association communities. The program will bring technology training, education, information resources and other support to ASAE's 24,000 association executive members representing more than 12,000 associations serving more than 287 million people and companies... (And from an ASAE paper) Although it seems a bit bizarre, accreditors have, on occasion, run afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act; the same act designed to reign in the likes of Microsoft and AT&T. Antitrust laws are designed to prevent restraints on trade that may lead to market monopolization, price-fixing, boycotts and other anticompetitive tactics. So, how have accreditors gotten themselves into trouble here?

Judge: Although decisions of accrediting agencies have historically been given deference, where, as here, accreditation decisions are made by actors with a financial interest in the outcome, little deference should be given. Here, there were admitted conflicting economic financial interests in the decisions that were made. That fact is shown by the recruitment of [the school’s] students…by competitors whose representatives were involved in the decision making on accreditation; an attempt by a competitor whose representative was one of the decision makers to buy [the school] after its accreditation was withdrawn, at a time when the monetary value of [the school] had been reduced by the accreditation decision; [and by] the fact that persons with competing financial interests to those of [the school] made the accreditation decisions….Actions which could violate the antitrust laws if incorporated in an accreditation procedure, per se, indicate a lack of due process. (Life University, Inc. v. The Council on Chiropractic Education, Inc, et al, No. 1:03-CV-4-CAM (N.D. Ga. February 12, 2003)