The Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), formerly the National Home Study Council and then as the Distance Education and Training Council, is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of (51 percent or more) distance education programs of study and institutions. The U.S. Department of Education identifies DEAC to be among the recognized institutional accrediting agencies in the U.S. that are reliable authorities on the quality of education offered by the institutions they accredit.