Types of Accreditation

The U.S. Department of Education recognizes select accrediting agencies as reliable authorities regarding the quality of education or training. When people mention higher education accreditation, they are typically referring to regional accreditation. There are six regional accreditation bodies in the U.S. which are shown on the map below.

Other national accreditation groups focus on an area of education such as health professions, vocational, trade or continuing education. Program specific accreditation is found for certain professional schools and individual educational programs within an institution representing a professional area such as business or nursing.

Legitimate accreditation provides standards of quality, increases the value of your education and provides access to job and employment opportunities not available to unaccredited institutions. To find out if an institution is accredited, the U.S. Department of Education has published a "positive list" of schools that are accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the Secretary of Education.