Our Story
PECAAS came to life in 2022 through Stephanie’s vision to help others navigate the many avenues of compliance for private, post-secondary educational institutions. The need for such assistance was mighty and broad. Her team quickly grew from one to three, as Kaitlyn and Nikole came aboard.
In 2023, Stephanie teamed up with Cindy to continue the mission forward. Now, a driven team of four passionate, client and student focused women, PECAAS has broadened its focus to provide quality solutions to compliance and administrative challenges educational institutions face in today’s ever-changing landscape of regulations.
Today, PECAAS continues their mission to help all career schools that have a passion to teach their trade, and in turn, help their community. The wealth of experience and knowledge PECAAS offers to these schools allows the industry experts to remain focused on providing a quality educational experience to their students.
PECAAS is able to assist schools in regulatory requirements and accreditation efforts. We can help you start a school, bring a school into compliance, and maintain compliance. Our team is capable of working with local, state, and national agencies. We have a great deal of contacts throughout the industry and in the legislative arena to help you find the best solution for your school.
Don’t delay joining the PECAAS family, our goal is helping you achieve yours! Details matter; we will be there to support you every step of the way!
PECAAS' mission is to support new and existing schools with all processes required to form, deploy, and maintain compliant educational institutions. Our services are designed to assist all stakeholders including, but not limited to: owners and/or operators of the school, students, and all associated accrediting agencies. Big or small, the Details Matter to PECAAS.
The mission of PECAAS is supported by the following values:
Accountability and mindfulness: embracing the responsibility to be self-aware and analytical of all relationships allowing for accountability in the pursuit of quality.
Integrity and transparency: communicate and act with the driving forces of integrity and transparency to achieve clearness and results that all can be proud of.
Courage and passion: be driven by courage and passion to help all succeed, but with the compassion to communicate when we aren’t the best solution.
Dependability and serving our clients: steered by supporting our clients through loyalty and always “showing up”
Diversity and respect: treating everyone, regardless of their backgrounds, and schools of all sizes, the same.
Teamwork and trust: building teamwork and trust through relationships and clear communication to provide more cohesive environment for success.
Meet Our Team
Stephanie Rife
Founding Partner & CEO
Veteran
Stephanie has worked in Education for over 20 years. She brings valuable experience from the compliance side of education. She previously worked as a board administer for the Department of Education and can utilize her regulatory skills in order to help schools with any compliance needs.
Cindy Smith
Founding Partner & COO
Cindy Smith has worked in the career school, post-secondary education sector for over twenty years. She brings a wide scope of experience to PECAAS. As a Program Director, Cindy created curriculum, lesson plans, and served as a leader for both the faculty and students. Cindy moved into a compliance role where she focused on bringing the entire campus into compliance for all areas of education. This included determining best practices and developing standard operating procedures (SOP’s) for individual areas and campus wide policies. Cindy has also served as the lead for ADA, 504, Title IX, and VAWA compliance.
Kait Messer
Founding Partner & CAO
Kait has worked in the post-secondary world for over a year with a focus on the administrative side. With a degree in Psychology, her expertise supports organizational and educational problem-solving.