Accreditation Agencies

OEDb only lists online and campus-based colleges that are accredited by agencies recognized by the US Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). According to OPE's FAQ's about Accreditation, the purpose of accreditation is to ensure that an educational institution "maintains standards requisite for its graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning or to achieve credentials for professional practice. The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality."

Accreditation is bestowed upon educational institutions by officially recognized accrediting agencies. These accrediting agencies are private educational associations of regional or national scope. The duty of each accrediting agency is to develop a set of evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to determine whether those criteria are met. Educational institutions can request an agency's evaluation, and should they meet the agency's criteria, they are then accredited by that agency.

Accreditation Agencies