College accreditation helps prospective students and employers of graduates to evaluate the quality and scope of education offered for different degree programs at a particular school. In many countries, only accredited colleges are approved for federal and state student aid money, which most students need to pay for their educations. Fraudulent colleges that operate as "diploma mills" do not allow students to use federal financial aid and are not accredited, which helps students identify schools that offer a real education as opposed to simply selling a degree with little to no educational instruction.
Colleges in the United States undergo voluntary accreditation procedures from different accrediting organizations, including regional, faith-related, career-related, and program-specific accreditors. Most other countries have government-controlled accreditation processes that are often mandatory for schools offering degree and career programs. Accrediting organizations and governments have specific college accreditation requirements and standards schools must meet and maintain for them to keep their accreditation.
Schools must apply for college accreditation with the accreditor they wish to earn approval from. Accrediting agencies have different requirements for these colleges that may include academic progress of students, qualifications of staff, and specific requirements for the educational content taught in particular classes. Schools must demonstrate that they meet the requirements and pass a review given by the accrediting agency before they can make the claim that they are accredited by a particular organization.
Students can research the requirements for different accrediting agencies related to their fields of study, and choose a college accredited by that agency to be sure that they school they choose meets the standards set forth by the agency. Accrediting agencies require schools to submit reports, statistics, and other information periodically to keep their college accreditation so that students can be confident that their school is maintaining the agency's standards, and that they will continue to be eligible for financial aid.
Employers often seek to hire individuals who have graduated from an accredited college. While it would be impossible for an employer to evaluate all of the possible colleges a potential applicant could have attended, employers can familiarize themselves with the requirements of career-specific or regional accrediting agencies to assure that graduates of accredited colleges have taken certain classes or learned certain skills and concepts.
Companies that offer tuition assistance to their employees often offer the funds only to employees who attend an accredited program. Certain professions that require specific licensing, such as nursing and legal professions, may require a degree from an accredited school before allowing someone to take a licensing exam. Accredited schools often work together to establish credit transfer policies for students who wish to continue their educations at another school. Credits are more likely to transfer between accredited schools than they are to transfer from a non-accredited college to an accredited one.
