Accreditation in Higher Education
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Accreditation is the practice of assessing and recognizing that an academic program or institution of higher education has met standards established by an accrediting agency. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) describes accreditation as “a means of conducting non-governmental, peer evaluation of educational institutions and programs.”
There are two types of accreditation:
- institutional accreditation, which applies to colleges or universities; and
- programmatic accreditation, which applies to departments or programs.
The accreditation process for institutions and academic programs is voluntary and ongoing, and renewals are required every 5-10 years to maintain accredited status. The accreditation process generally relies on peer review conducted by experts in the field, not the government. The peer review process focuses on assessment of the quality of institutions and their programs.
History of Accreditation
Federal recognition of accrediting agencies began in 1952 to determine which institutions of higher education would qualify to receive federal aid under the G.I. Bill. In 1958, the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) defined the term “institution of higher education” for institutions that would be eligible to receive federal funding to support students in need of financial aid. In 1965, Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) expanded access to federal student aid, regardless of veteran status. In addition to establishing the Pell Grant program and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, the HEA reauthorization of 1972 also allowed accredited for-profit institutions to participate in federal student aid programs. The HEA reauthorization of 1992 gave the secretary of ED authority to establish accrediting agency standards.5 Since 2008, negotiated rulemaking has been used to regulate and deregulate accreditation.
What’s next in accreditation?
ED cannot remove an institution’s or program’s accreditation — only an accrediting agency can do so. However, policymakers, students, and advocates should be wary of the administration’s attacks on the recognition of current accreditors and any attempts to remove recognition from accreditors who do not fall in line with the administration’s political agenda. Revoking ED recognition of accrediting agencies is a long and extensive process, for which the HEA has established due process requirements to be in place.