The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) is a U.S. based institutional accreditation organization that focuses on Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries seeking collegiate accreditation in the United States. TRACS, which is based in Forest, Virginia, is recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. TRACS is a significant accreditor of historically black colleges and universities, especially those that have lost their regional accreditation for failing to meet fiscal sustainability obligations. Despite the transnational in its name, almost all of the schools the organization reviews are located in the United States. TRACS is also notable for requiring creationism and creationist science as part of its accredited curriculums. History The organization was founded in 1979. According to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), TRACS is a "product of the ICR". TRACS required, through at least 2018, all accredited schools to have a statement of faith that affirms "the inerrancy and historicity of the Bible" and "the divine work of non-evolutionary creation including persons in God's image". TRACS's first application for federal recognition in 1987 was denied, but in 1991 under President George H. W. Bush, U.S. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander "approved TRACS, despite his advisory panel's repeatedly recommending against recognition." Approval came following TRACS' third rejection by the board in which Secretary Alexander "arranged for an appeal hearing," and critics of the approval said the move was about politics. TRACS' approval "worried" accrediting officials who concluded that TRACS was not a qualified accreditor and the move was criticized by education officials. Another source of criticism was the 1991 granting of accreditation to the Institute for Creation Research. One of TRACS' board members was Henry M. Morris, founder of ICR. Attorney Timothy Sandefur called Morris's position on the board "highly questionable". In 2007 John D. Morris, Henry Morris' son, asked TRACS to terminate the ICR's accreditation. The reason was, in part, that the ICR moved to Texas and the state did not recognize TRACS at that time. In 1993, Steve Levicoff published a book-length critical discussion of TRACS, When the TRACS Stop Short: An Evaluation and Critique of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Levicoff criticized TRACS's expedited accreditation of Liberty University and its creation of a category for schools which it called associate schools. While this category "was not considered an official accreditation," Levicoff argued that TRACS lent its name