Institutional Accreditation
An institutional accrediting body considers the characteristics of whole institutions. For this reason, an institutional accrediting body gives attention not only to the educational programs of the institutions it accredits, but also to other such institutional characteristics as the student personnel services, financial conditions, and administrative strength.
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The criteria of an institutional accrediting body are broad, as is demanded by the attention to an entire institution and by the presence in the United States of postsecondary institutions of widely different purposes and scopes. Such breadth of criteria also provide encouragement to institutions to try innovative curricula and procedures and to adopt them when they prove successful. Accreditation of an institution by an institutional accrediting body certifies to the general public that the institution: 1. has appropriate purposes 2. has the resources needed to accomplish its purposes; 3. can demonstrate that it is accomplishing its purposes; and 4. gives reason to believe that it will continue to accomplish its purposes. |
Institutional improvement is encouraged by an institutional accrediting body through the requirement that the accredited institution conduct periodic self-evaluations seeking to identify what the institution does well, determining the areas in which improvement is needed, and developing plans to address needed improvements. While the certification of accreditation indicates an acceptable level of institutional quality, any institution, however excellent, is capable of improvement, which must come from its own clear identification and understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
