The Importance of Accreditation
In the USA, accreditation holds a prominent position
within the range of resources available to students, employers,
government and the general public in identifying quality
education and training programs and providers. Accreditation
serves to both evaluate and improve the quality of such
programs through the establishment and publication of definitive
standards, along with a reliable process for their application
in evaluating institutions which voluntarily apply to seek
accredited status.
Fully-accredited university with campuses throughout Florida and programs offered 100% online
There are a number of important and unique
characteristics that define the operation of accrediting
agencies officially recognized by the U.S. Department of
Education as "reliable authorities as to the quality of
education or training provided by the institutions of higher
education they accredit." They are non-profit corporations,
privately funded and, therefore, independent of government
control, which publish validated standards that address
all essential aspects of a school, and utilize a peer review
cadre of professionals, both for on-site evaluation visits
and the Accrediting Commission, the latter of which shoulders
the responsibility of granting or denying accredited status.
In addition to the oversight of these processes by the Department
of Education, more and more agencies are looking at international
affiliations to diversify and strengthen their roles, in
at least one agency's case by achieving ISO 9001 certification.
Much information about the specifics of accreditation
standards and practices, in addition to school directories,
can be located on the web (typically found by the acronym
dot org, e.g. accet.org) and the U.S. Department of Education
maintains a site that lists all of the officially recognized
agencies (www.ed.gov.us, search under accreditation).
In addition to the overall evaluation and
improvement of the quality of education and training, accreditation
has some specific purposes and functions pertinent to international
students interested in continuing their education in the
USA. While this country holds great allure as a symbol of
freedom and free enterprise, access to its shores for extended
educational purposes requires a visa, for which the Immigration
and Naturalization Services authorizes schools, accredited
by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education,
to process the forms to make application by enrollees. Further,
accrediting agencies typically have cancellation and refund
polices that offer specific elements of protection for students,
in addition to an independently administered complaint resolution
process that provides students a fair hearing on the merits.
Accreditation is, at its best, a means by
which good schools and good practices are promoted, while
students' best interests and educational goals are protected.
In a free enterprise system, those institutions who voluntarily
commit themselves to the expense and effort of a quality-oriented,
rigorous, third-party evaluation to gain and maintain accredited
status are making a statement worth listening. Author Roger
J. Williams, Executive Director Accrediting Council for
Continuing Education & Training (ACCET)
