University Accreditation Requirements

Academic accreditation is an endorsement of the quality of higher learning institutions in various countries around the world. The primary aim of educational accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions meets acceptable levels of quality. Universities or colleges are accredited nationally and internationally by independent organizations that national or state governments have recognized. Here are four things every university must accomplish to receive accreditation:
1) Admit only academically qualified applicants
If your admissions standards aren’t high enough, your students won’t be competitive enough. They may graduate, but they probably won’t compete with the best of the best in their chosen field. Therefore, your university will not receive accreditation because you are not providing students with a sufficient education. For instance, Grand Canyon University accreditation, proves that this institution admits qualified students and offers them adequate education.
2) Institutional Effectiveness
Regional accrediting associations also consider an institution’s effectiveness in carrying out its stated mission and goals, achieving its educational objectives, and providing services to students, faculty members, and staff members. An institution can demonstrate its effectiveness through self-study reports that are submitted every few years. For instance, the Grand Canyon University accreditation professionals collects data through this report that they use to determine that all their programs are meeting their goals and objectives at a satisfactory level for internal and external purposes. That means the graduates are being prepared appropriately for further education or employment opportunities.
3) Institution’s Capacity and Resources
Institutional capacity refers to the university’s ability to provide adequate resources for its educational programs, student support services, and faculty members. The institution must have a good working environment that allows it to function at a high level. In this sense, institutional capacity includes the college’s financial stability and control over available resources. These resources include faculty, staff, curriculum offerings, facilities, and equipment.
4) Quality of the Institution’s Educational Programs
Although this factor is more difficult to quantify than resources and institutional capacity, regional accrediting associations emphasize the quality of institutions’ academic programs to ensure that students will be given a high-quality education while pursuing their degree at that institution. A peer review team from the region evaluates an institution’s curriculum and its faculty members’ credentials, teaching loads, and classroom facilities to assess educational quality. In addition, each year, a school must provide data on retention rates for full-time first-time undergraduate students and the number of degrees awarded by major.
Accreditation demonstrates that you have gone out of your way to provide students with an excellent experience when it comes to education. While there are many pros and cons to attending an unaccredited school, the fact remains that those who attend accredited universities will be much better prepared for life after college than those who don’t.