Accredited? How do you know?

Determining if an institution of higher education or professional degree program is accredited can be an arduous task. There are organizations in the United States that focus solely on accrediting higher education programs and providing the information directly to the public in an effort to minimize fraud in higher education and communicate accreditation information that can be trusted.

The following organizations are committed to evaluating the legitimacy of higher education programs based on their provision of high quality programs dedicated to quality improvement. These organizations are private, non-profit businesses, non-governmental agencies and governmental agencies dedicated to helping the public identify colleges, universities and other educational programs that are accredited. Agencies who are accredited are eligible to receive state and federal funding.

1. The United States Secretary of Education recognizes postsecondary institutions and programs that are accredited by Accreditation Agencies and State Approved Accrediting Agencies. This database can be found at the United States Department of Education website under Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. The United States Department of Education database only identifies institutions that are recognized as being accredited. For example, if you type in an institutions name and the database reports no information then that program or institution is not recognized as being accredited by the Secretary of Education.
2. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) administers a database of institutions and programs accredited by recognized United States accrediting organizations. The database provides more than 7,700 institutions and more than 18,000 programs that are accredited by approved United States accrediting organizations.
3. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) publishes a database of Recognized Accrediting Organizations (http://www.chea.org/pdf/CHEA_USDE_AllAccred.pdf).This website can be extremely valuable in deciphering recognized accrediting agencies compared to bogus accrediting agencies that are frequently listed by unaccredited institutions and programs.

 Accrediting agencies recommend that the public not limit their research to the information provided by one source because the databases are compiled from publicly available information and may not be accurate, current and complete at all times. To ensure the accuracy of information reported, individuals are encouraged to consult additional accreditation sources.