What is the purpose of pursuing accreditation?
What is the purpose of pursuing accreditation?
Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process based on self and peer assessment. Its purpose is the improvement of academic quality and public accountability. This continuing quality control process occurs usually every five to ten years.
Is accreditation a legal requirement?
In order for U.S. institutions of higher education to receive federal funds (and for their students to be eligible for federal student aid), institutions must be accredited by a federally recognized accrediting agency. Accrediting agencies. …
What are the requirements for accreditation?
To be accredited by an authorized accrediting agency, an educational institution must demonstrate that it satisfies the following requirements:
- it has formally adopted an appropriate vision and mission;
- it offers educational programs (or curricula) consistent with its vision and mission;
What is accreditation and why is it important?
Accreditation protects the interests of students, their parents, the academic institutions themselves, and potential employers, by ensuring that the educational programs offered have attained a level that meets or exceeds standards that were developed by experts in the field.
What are the disadvantages of accreditation?
It costs a lot of money to obtain and retain accreditations; so the more accredited a course is, the more of your fees are going into the accreditation, and that usually means either the college is taking bigger profits; or the college is putting less of your fees into actually providing a service.
Who is responsible for accreditation?
2. Who are the Accreditors? Accreditors are the private, nonprofit trade organizations responsible for accrediting colleges. The federal government recognizes these organizations as accreditors through recommendations made by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), part of ED.
What are the 10 areas of accreditation?
There are ten (10) criteria (areas) that are used in the assessment of programs:
- Mission, goals and objectives.
- Faculty.
- Curriculum and Instruction.
- Students.
- Research.
- Extension and Community Involvement.
- Library.
- Physical Facilities.
What is the process of accreditation?
Accreditation is a review process to determine if educational programs meet defined standards of quality. The process of academic accreditation typically culminates in an external quality review by a team of professional experts from academe or industry.