College and University AccreditationCollege and university accreditation is often referred to as "institutional accreditation". This means that the institution as a whole, college or university, is accredited. Why is this important? It is an important distinction to make between institutional accreditation and professional accreditation. Professional, or specialized, accreditation focuses on certain types of education or schools. For purposes of this website, professional accreditation is concerned with business schools and MBA programs. Other types may include law schools, medical schools, engineering schools, etc. Institutional Accreditation Types:College and university accreditation comes in two flavors, regional and national. Most "traditional" colleges and universities hold regional accreditation. It does not matter if they are private or public. Other "non-traditional" colleges, such as the University of Phoenix, also hold regional accreditation. Regional accreditors are territorial, that is, they cover a certain territory of states. National accreditation is a newer form, but is recognized as legitimate accreditation all the same. It does not focus on territory, but rather scope of the school - mostly vocational and trade schools. There are many national accreditors and they accredit schools nationally (and internationally). There are only two national accreditors that accredit schools with MBA programs.
The need for professional accreditation is different outside of business education. In the case of engineering, law, or library science, specialized or professional certification is usually a must. However, in business education, it is not a must but an added bonus. One final note about college and university accreditation...It is a United States thing. In other countries, the government authorizes or "accredits" the college or university. However, in the United States, the government delegates accrediting authority to non-government accrediting organizations by "recognizing" those accreditors.
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