What is Accreditation?

There are various agencies which are providing Accreditation to various Educational Institutes or Universities in various areas like Faculty, Curriculum, Administration and Students Services, etc. In US, Accrediting Agencies are approved by the U.S. Department of Education and Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) which is also responsible for maintaining the database of approved Colleges and Universities as well as list of unrecognized institutes and unrecognized Accrediting Agencies.
The Accrediting Agencies can be either Regional Accrediting Agencies (for certifying Colleges and Universities) or can be Professional Accrediting Agency (for certifying Professional Courses).

The process of Accreditation is very important because it ensures that Educational Institute or University meets the minimum Standards, increases the recognition of Degree by employers and other institutes, it also helps the students in case of transfer of University, in getting a professional license and many more.

However an institute without Accreditation does not means that it is completely illegal because importance of Accreditation depends on the need of an individual like if an institute is providing only Professional Training than there is no need to seek Accreditation in such a case.