Accreditation is an activity long accepted in the United States but unknown in many other countries that rely on governmental supervision and control of educational institutions.

The record of accomplishment and outstanding success in the education of Americans can be traced in large part to the reluctance of the United States to impose governmental restrictions on institutions of postsecondary education, and to the success of the voluntary American system of accreditation in promoting quality without inhibiting innovation.

The high proportion of Americans benefiting from higher education, the reputation of universities in the United States for both fundamental and applied research, and the wide-spread availability of professional services in the United States all testify to postsecondary education of high quality, and to the success of the accreditation system which the institutions and professions of the United States have devised to promote that quality.

The Value of Accreditation, developed by regional, national and programmatic accrediting organizations and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, is available here.