What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a voluntary process of self-regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community. Accreditations are designed primarily to distinguish schools adhering to a set of educational standards. 

Educations institutions have voluntarily entered into associations to evaluate each other in accord with an institution’s stated goals for more than 100 years. 

Today accreditation examines the whole institution—the programs, the cultural context, the community of stakeholders—to determine how well, as a whole, an institution meets the needs of students.

Non-accredited institutions must be able to demonstrate that they possess certain “characteristics of quality” before they are allowed to become members of the association of accredited institutions. 

Accreditation is inextricably linked to an institution's future and continuous improvement.  The accreditation process asks institutions and systems to critically evaluate their vision, strategies, priorities, leadership, and programs and resources.  The process of earning and maintaining accreditation gives institutions and educational systems a clear and fruitful direction for implementing changes and reaching excellence.