College and University Accreditation

College and university accreditation is often referred to as "institutional accreditation".

This means that a college or univeristy (the institution) and all of it programs are accredited.

Why is this important? Because accreditation is the only form of quality assurance of education in the United States.

If a school is not accredited institutionally, there is a chance that the school is not legitimate.

It is best to only attend institutions that are legitimately accredited.

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 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 three national accreditors that accredit schools with MBA programs.

It is important to make a distinction between institutional accreditation and specialized accreditation. Specialized, or programmatic, accreditation focuses on certain types of education or schools. For purposes of this website, specialized accreditation is concerned with business schools and MBA programs. Other types may include law schools, medical schools, engineering schools, etc.

The need for specialized accreditation is different outside of business education. In the case of law, medicine, or engineering, specialized or professional certification is usually required. However, in business education, it is not a must but rather an added bonus.

One final note about accreditation (both institutional and specialized)...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.