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Accreditation Basics

Accreditation is a process by which experts in a particular field determine common standards and choose to regulate themselves according to those standards. In order to become accredited, especially in the field of education, a program or institution participates in a voluntary process of peer review, designed to improve and assure the quality of the program or institution. Within the higher education community, oversight for education programs and institutions is the purview of accrediting agencies, state regulatory agencies, and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

The goals of accreditation in education include the following:

• Advancing standards and promoting excellence
• Publicly recognizing programs and institutions that meet accepted standards
• Assuring the quality of programs and institutions to the public
• Providing a means of ongoing self-assessment and continuing education for programs and institutions
• Providing an objective means for reviewing the quality of education and education services

The initial accreditation process typically includes an application for eligibility, a self-study by the program or institution seeking accreditation, review by trained peer volunteers, and decision-making by a volunteer board of directors or commission. Accreditation is an ongoing activity that continues long beyond the period of initial accreditation. Accreditation may be granted for periods of from one to ten years, but no matter the length of accreditation, maintaining accreditation usually requires upholding the standards, periodic self-assessment, and annual reporting.

Postsecondary accreditation in the United States is usually national in scope. There are regional institutional accrediting agencies, such as the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Colleges, and state agencies, such as the New York State Board of Regents. There are also institutional agencies such as the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), which accredit only institutions, and "specialized" programmatic accrediting agencies that focus on a particular discipline, such as the Commission on Accreditation/Approval for Dietetics Education. CEA is both an institutional and programmatic specialized accrediting agency as it accredits both stand-alone English language institutions and intensive English programs within degree-granting universities and colleges.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) provides oversight of education accrediting agencies. Its National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity evaluates accrediting bodies and advised the Secretary of Education with respect to the recognition of a specific accrediting agency or state approval agency that meets USDE standards for recognition. Procedures and criteria for recognition are published in Title 34 Part 602 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

On September 10, 2003, CEA was granted recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national accrediting agency. This recognition allows accredited freestanding English language institutions to establish eligibility to participate in the Department of Homeland Security (Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services) certification program, by which such institutions may issue the Form I-20. To receive recognition, an accrediting agency must meet regulations for accrediting agencies by going through a rigorous process of review by U.S. Department of Education staff and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. The Department of Education web site has more information about this process and also includes a list of National and Institutional Accrediting Agencies.