Goal of Accreditation
The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether those criteria are met or not. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.
Benefits of Institutional Accreditation
The primary benefits of institutional accreditation include
Provides formal recognition by peers, both within the institution and across the country.
Encourages planning, identifies areas for change, and provides substantial information that
can be used to support resource decisions.
Is extremely influential in recruiting outstanding faculty and students.
Contributes to the assurance that graduates of these programs have formal preparation
that meets nationally accepted standards and quality.
Maintaining Accreditation
To ensure continued academic excellence, accreditation requires periodic institutional and
program reviews. The accreditation process also provides an opportunity for the University
to assess our successes and challenges over time, see how we compare to our peers, and
make better decisions when allocating resources