American College of Healthcare Sciences (ACHS), based in Portland, Oregon, United States, specializes in online holistic health distance education. Founded in 1978, ACHS is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council and Approved by the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and is listed in the database for the Council of Higher Education Accreditation. ACHS was originally founded in 1976 as the extramural or distance education department of an on-campus naturopathic college in Auckland, New Zealand. Dorene Petersen, a graduate of the South Pacific College of Natural Therapeutics, was assigned head of the new department. In 1978, ACHS split off into a stand-alone institution as the South Pacific College was going through accreditation by an accrediting agency that did not accredit distance learning. Dorene Petersen became the head of the new institution, which was named the Australasian College of Herbal Studies. The USA office opened in 1991 and became owned and operated independently from the New Zealand school in 1995. It has grown each year. In 1998, ACHS became state licensed by the Oregon Department of Education.