What Is Accreditation?
ac·cred·i·ta·tion
n. The act of accrediting or the state of being accredited, especially the granting of approval to an institution of learning by an official review board after the school has met specific requirements.
-American Heritage Dictionary
Accreditation of higher education institutions in the United States differs from that in other countries because it is voluntary and conducted by non-governmental organizations. The U.S. has no federal ministry of education or other centralized authority exercising single national control over postsecondary educational institutions. Varying degrees of control over education are exercised by the states but, in general, universities and colleges are permitted to operate with considerable independence and autonomy. As a consequence, American educational institutions can vary widely in the character and quality of their programs.
In order to ensure a basic level of quality, the practice of accreditation arose in the U.S. as a means of conducting non-governmental, peer evaluation of educational institutions and programs. Private educational associations of regional or national scope have adopted criteria reflecting the qualities of a sound educational program and have developed procedures for evaluating institutions or programs to determine whether or not they are operating at basic levels of quality. No institution in the U.S. is required to seek accreditation; however, because of the recognized benefits, which include eligibility for receipt of federal funds, most universities and colleges in this and other regions have sought to become accredited.
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