Accreditation is a non-governmental, professional peer review process by which educational institutions and programs are provided technical assistance and are evaluated for quality based on pre-established academic and administrative standards. A primary goal of accreditation is to assist postsecondary institutions to identify and achieve goals in order to protect the public and to establish and maintain high educational standards and ethical business practices for the accredited, member schools.

1. Certifying that an institution or program has met established standards.
2. Assisting prospective students in identifying acceptable institutions.
3. Assisting institutions in determining the acceptability of transfer credits.
4. Helping to identify institutions and programs for the investment of public and private funds.
5. Protecting an institution against harmful internal and external pressure.
6. Creating goals for self-improvement of weaker programs and stimulating a general raising of standards among educational institutions.
7. Involving the faculty and staff comprehensively in evaluation and planning.
8. Establishing criteria for professional certification and licensure and for upgrading courses offering such preparation.
9. Providing one of several considerations used as a basis for determining eligibility for Federal financial aid assistance.

There are two basic types of educational accreditation: one identified as "institutional" and one referred to as "specialized" or "programmatic".

"Institutional" accreditation normally applies to an entire institution, indicating that each of an institution's parts is contributing to the achievement of the institution's objectives.

"Specialized" or "programmatic" accreditation normally applies to programs, departments, or schools that are parts of an institution.

Accreditation does not provide automatic acceptance by an institution of credit earned at another institution, nor does it give assurance of acceptance of graduates by employers. Acceptance of students or graduates is always the prerogative of the receiving institution or employer. For these reasons, besides ascertaining the accredited status of a school or program, students should take additional measures to determine, prior to enrollment, whether or not their educational goals will be met through attendance at a particular institution. These measures should include inquiries to institutions to which transfer might be desired or to prospective employers and, if possible, personal inspection of the institution at which enrollment is contemplated