United States Of America

The US Higher Education System

In the United States, there is no central office authorizing the university to operate.  Each state regulates education to some extent, but universities have considerable independence. Accreditation, a system in which institutions voluntarily agree to be evaluated by their peers, ensures that these institutions achieve basic levels of quality in their programs, facilities and services.

There are two types of accreditation: regional and professional.  Regional accreditation applies to the university as a whole.  Professional accreditation exists only in fields of study.  There is an inaccurate perception that universities which do not have a professional accreditation are not recognized.  Professional accreditation is an option that a university has to register and pay for.  A good example is a Business studies program.  There are around 4,000 universities in the U.S. and at least 3,000 of them offer a program in business studies.  If someone asks for a list of professional accredited business schools only 200 will show up on the list.  Universities such as Harvard, Yale, MIT will not appear.  Does this mean they are not accredited?  Of course not, they have chosen not to have the program professionally accredited, and so do most of the US universities.