AccreditationandQualityAssurancePostsecondary.docVIP

International Affairs Office, U.S. Department of Education 12/2007 /international/usnei/us/accred-postsec.doc Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Postsecondary Accreditation Postsecondary accreditation at the non-degree and degree levels is the responsibility of voluntary non-governmental accrediting agencies. These agencies develop and enforce standards for institutions and programs. The federal government has no power to accredit institutions, but can recognize certain accrediting agencies for the narrow purposes of supporting student assistance programs and institutional eligibility for assistance. Recognized accrediting agencies take two forms. Federally recognized accrediting agencies are those agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit institutions, and some programs, that provide access to federal assistance funding and thus meet federal legal criteria governing who may apply for, and receive, federal assistance. Other accrediting agencies that are recognized by professional and state licensing authorities, but which do not provide access to federal assistance under current law and are thus not federally recognized, are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Relatively few state government agencies perform accreditation functions at the postsecondary level, and many states have requirements that institutions and programs be accredited by recognized accrediting agencies in order for graduates to obtain state recognition. There are two broad types of accreditation: institutional and programmatic. Institutional accrediting agencies accredit all aspects of an entire institution. They are further subdivided into regional and national accrediting agencies. Regional accrediting agencies tend to accredit comprehensive institutions with both undergraduate and graduate components that offer instruction in a variety of subject fiel