The goal of accreditation is
to ensure that education provided
by institutions of higher education
meets acceptable levels of quality.
Accreditation in the United States involves non-governmental
entities as well as governmental
agencies.
Accrediting agencies, which are private
educational associations of
regional or national scope,
develop evaluation criteria
and conduct peer evaluations
to assess whether or not those
criteria are met. Institutions
and/or programs that request
an agency's evaluation and
that meet an agency's criteria
are then "accredited"
by that agency.
The U.S. Department of Education does not accredit educational
institutions and/or programs.
However, the Secretary of Education
is required by law to publish
a list of nationally recognized
accrediting agencies that the
Secretary determines to be reliable
authorities as to the quality
of education or training provided
by the institutions of higher
education and the higher education
programs they accredit. An agency
seeking national recognition
by the Secretary must meet the
Secretary's procedures and criteria for the recognition of
accrediting agencies, as published
in the Federal Register.
Some of the criteria for recognition,
such as the criterion requiring
a link to Federal programs,
have no bearing on the quality
of an accrediting agency; however,
they do have the effect of making
some agencies ineligible for
recognition for reasons other
than quality. The recognition process involves not only filing an application
with the U. S. Department of
Education but also review by
the National
Advisory Committee on Institutional
Quality and Integrity, which
makes a recommendation to the
Secretary regarding recognition.
The Secretary, after considering
the Committee's recommendation,
makes the final determination
regarding recognition.
The U.S. Secretary of Education also recognizes
State agencies for the approval of public postsecondary vocational
education and State agencies
for the approval of nurse
education. These agencies
must meet the Secretary's
criteria and procedures for
such recognition and must
undergo review by the National
Advisory Committee.
National
Committee on Foreign Medical
Education and Accreditation.
The law gives that Committee
the responsibility for reviewing
the standards that foreign
countries use to accredit
medical schools to determine
whether those standards are
comparable to the standards
used to accredit medical schools
in the United
States.
The comparability decisions
made by the Committee affect
whether U.S. students
attending foreign medical
schools can receive loans
under the Federal Family Education
Loan Program.
Useful
Links:
Avoiding
Diploma Mills
Middle States
Association of Colleges &
Schools, Commission on Higher
Education
New England
Association of Schools and
Colleges
Northwest
Association of Schools and
Colleges
Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
North Central Association, Higher Learning
Commission
