What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a form of peer review of educational program.
Accreditation of an institute guarantees that the learning offered
by that institute is of uniform and sound quality.
Why is Accreditation important for a University?
Accreditation for a University is important as it gives the
assurance to the public, in particular to prospective students,
that this University has been found to meet the quality educational
at standards and criteria.
How is it beneficial for the students?
Students receive the following benefits with an accredited
university:
- Assurance that the institution is meeting certain educational
quality standards.
- Reasonable grounds for believing that the institute will continue
to meet them.
- Assurance that their Degrees will be widely accepted by the
employers, professional associations, other colleges and universities.
- Belief that their Degree will reap the benefits associated with
sound and high-quality educational standards.
On what grounds is Accreditation offered?
The Accreditation Board establishes criteria that the institutes
are required to meet in order to get accredited. The Accrediting
Board evaluates the institution in terms of its mission, educational
practices, administration, financial stability, policies & student
services. Only the institutions fulfilling accreditation requirements
under these heads are granted accreditation:
Which agencies or boards grant Accreditation?
The accreditation is offered only to those institutes which
meet or fulfill the stringent standards set by the agencies or boards.
The institutes that receive accreditation benefit in the form of
identifying a platform that will lead to providing quality education
to the students worldwide. There are several non-governmental accrediting
agencies or boards that have established certain educational standards
and are helping institutions build online educational standards.
The organizations performing accreditation services include:
Few of these official and semi-official agencies or boards that
are
performing accreditation services are as following:
- Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS)
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
- North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS)
- Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities
(NASCU)
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
- Board of Online Universities Accreditation (BOUA)
- Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA)
- International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU)
- World Online Education Accrediting Commission (WOEAC)
All these Boards and Agencies are renowned and the institutions
receiving their accreditation hold the same level of credibility
and recognition worldwide.
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