Accreditation Bodies

Understanding Accreditation in The United States:

In The United States, Universities/Colleges that offer 2 year and 4 year degrees are first accredited by their regional accreditation bodies. Depending on the location where a student attends a university or college, it will be one of six regional accreditations. All six are also recognized by The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. These regional accreditations are voluntary but almost all universities choose to be regionally accredited for a 10 year renewable period. Additionally, many university programs also choose to seek program specific accreditation beyond the regional accreditation that umbrellas the entire university. Bodies such as the American Council for Construction Education comprised of academics and industry professionals are asked by a construction, construction management, construction science, construction technology program to be visited by an accreditation team and approved for specific and renewable time period as an additional specific accreditation. The National Architectural Accrediting Board is more specific to Architecture programs, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology is more specific to engineering and engineering technology program, and the Association for Technology, Management and applied Engineering is more specific to technology based programs.

It is up to the student deciding on a program as to the value of the program. Accreditation seeks to help a student decide on what a program offers. Since obtaining a license is important to some students, they first need to find out their states regulations for setting for licensure upon graduation. Each state is different and has different requirements for a specific degree completed and its accreditation as well as years of work experience. Find out more for Engineers, Architects, and the Professional Constructor.