Accreditation

Accreditation is recognition of a school by an independent private organization. It involves an independant review of a degree-granting institution for instructional quality, fiscal soundness, and other factors. Accreditation is not a governmental function in the U.S.

There are more than 100 accrediting agencies, some recognized by the Department of Education and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), some unrecognized, and some phony or fraudulent.

In the academic world, the most prestigious type of accreditation that a degree-granting institution can hold is "regional accreditation". The six U.S. regional accrediting associations (all equal in terms of their recognition) are:

NOTE: "Accreditation" is not the same as "State Approval". The latter generally involves a less rigorous review; in some cases, state approval may only imply that an institution has been granted a business license to operate.