# edu-accreditor

> edu-accreditor is a paid API for AI agents from payai.agentstools.dev, paid per call via x402, $0.005/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Check whether a named accrediting agency is officially recognized by the US Department of Education, returning recognition status, agency type, Title IV gatekeeper status, and recognition year.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://payai.agentstools.dev/edu/accreditor
- Price: $0.005/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/edu-accreditor-fbe53ec7
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_poVMi9JPpYEm-2yUO4uAm

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability edu-accreditor-fbe53ec7
```

Example prompt: Is the 'Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools' recognized by the US Department of Education? I want to know if it's legitimate, what type it is, and whether it's a Title IV gatekeeper.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a direct, authoritative check on whether a named accrediting agency is recognized by the US Department of Education — especially for detecting fake accreditors, diploma mills, or verifying Title IV eligibility. Prefer this over general web searches when you need a structured, reliable, machine-readable answer with official recognition metadata.

## Known failure modes

- Accreditor name not found or unrecognized — may return recognized: false with no match
- Misspelled or abbreviated name may fail to match the correct agency
- Agency may have been de-recognized and returned as inactive
- Name too ambiguous to match a single agency — closest match returned or no result

## How this service works

Check whether an accrediting agency is recognized by the US Department of Education. Give an accreditor name and get back a recognized flag plus the matched agency, its type (institutional or programmatic), Title IV gatekeeper status, active status and recognition year. The direct fake-accreditor test.

## Output

Returns a JSON object containing: a boolean 'recognized' flag indicating DOE recognition, the matched agency's official name, the agency type (institutional or programmatic), Title IV gatekeeper status (boolean or label), whether the agency is currently active, and the year it received DOE recognition.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "name"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "name": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Accrediting agency name to check for ED recognition"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/edu-accreditor-fbe53ec7/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from payai.agentstools.dev](https://www.zero.xyz/host/payai.agentstools.dev/llms.txt)