Our program is in a university (or community college). I've heard that accreditation is a requirement for issuing the Form I-20 to international students. Do we have to be accredited?

The Department of Homeland Security/Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services DHS/BCIS) requires that international students who enter the country on an F-1 visa attend an accredited institution. Since your program is within an accredited institution (probably accredited by one of the regional accrediting agencies or other institutional accreditors), your students are able to get the Form I-20, which is required for the F-1 visa. Thus, CEA accreditation is not required. In fact, accreditation is theoretically a voluntary standard-setting and review process. A profession that establishes an accrediting entity does so to monitor itself and set benchmarks for the profession. Thus, accreditation becomes a professional endeavor, in which a program wants to be recognized by its peers as meeting nationally accepted standards set by the field.

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