What is the value of accreditation?
A. Accreditation provides both public certification of acceptable institutional quality and an opportunity and incentive for self-improvement in the accredited organization. The Commission reaches the conclusion that a college or university meets the Criteria only after the organization opens itself to outside examination by experienced evaluators familiar with accrediting requirements and with higher education. The process of accreditation provides the accredited organization with an opportunity for critical self-analysis leading to improvement in quality and for consultation and advice from persons from other organizations.
Accreditation is a formal recognition of competence. It is commonly thought of as being limited to approval by an accreditation body against the guides and international standards published by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. This can be a rather narrow view in some situations and markets, where other standards may apply. For international recognition, however, the application of international standards is strongly recommended. From the point of view of conformity assessment, accreditation is applied to laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies. Users of laboratory services are often more familiar with accreditation and have a sophisticated understanding of its value. Accreditation of certification is a more recent activity and, while there has been extraordinary demand for certification, its accreditation is perhaps not so well appreciated. Similarly, accreditation of inspection bodies is a recent deve
Accreditation provides both public certification of acceptable institutional quality and an opportunity and incentive for self-improvement in the accredited organization.The Commission reaches the conclusion that a college or university meets the Criteria only after the organization opens itself to outside examination by experienced evaluators familiar with accrediting requirements and with higher education.The process of accreditation provides the accredited organization with an opportunity for critical self-analysis leading to improvement in quality and for consultation and advice from persons from other organizations.
