Accreditation is not given out to schools lightly and is a lengthy process that can be quite difficult for some schools to achieve. In order for a school to be accredited it must perform a self-evaluation to see if it meets the standards and criteria set out by the regional or national accrediting bodies in these areas:
- Admission requirements
- Faculty
- Curriculum
- Clinical education sites
- Policies and procedures
- Facilities and Equipment
- Administration
- Outcomes
- Finances
- Overall mission statement and goals
If a college thinks that it meets these standards, it can ask to be evaluated by the accrediting agency. The agency will send a team of evaluators to the school who will collect data and make observations, eventually creating a report. This report will then be shared with the accreditation board whose members will decide what accreditation, if any, to grant the school. This process can take several months to complete and schools are not guaranteed accreditation.
Students who have concerns about accreditation should also keep these things in mind:
Accreditation is voluntary. Schools do not have to submit themselves to accreditation. If a school is accredited, the school and the accrediting agency have both deemed it to offer quality academic and student services.
Accreditation agencies are non-profit. Accrediting agencies and their members do not profit from accrediting a particular college or university This helps to ensure that they are as impartial as possible when evaluating a school.
Accreditation is judged by a panel. No one person is responsible for giving a school accreditation. Schools are judged by a panel of educators and higher education professionals, their peers, on all the qualities listed above. The panel must agree that the school deserves accreditation, not just one individual.
Accreditation isn’t permanent. An online college or university doesn’t get to keep accreditation forever. It is only granted only for a specific period of time, after which the school must be reevaluated.
Accrediting organizations must be approved. Not just any group can go around accrediting schools. They must be approved by the CHEA or the US Department of Education. If an agency isn’t, they’re probably not legitimate.
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into accrediting a school and numerous precautions are taken and standards are laid out so that only the best schools, whether online or off, are given accreditation.