Licensure or Approval is a mandatory government process to assure that an
entity meets certain requirements established by the legislature. It refers to
approval/permission to engage in a business activity. The United States has no federal ministry of education
or other centralized authority exercising single national control over private
postsecondary education institutions.
To operate a private postsecondary institution in the United States you must
first apply for and receive approval, sometimes called licensure or registration
from the State where your institution will be located before you may operate.
To receive State approval an institution must demonstrate that is meets
certain minimum standards by usually describing the following:
Purpose or Mission
Organization
Administration
Programs Descriptions
Faculty
Facilities
Admission policies
Equipment
Financials
Ownership
Financial aid from State or City funding (i.e. WIA, ETP) is awarded only to students who attend schools that are licensed or
approved.
ACCREDITATION
Accreditation is a voluntary process to assure that an entity
meets standards established by a group of external experts in a particular
field. It refers to the recognition of an educational institution as maintaining
certain standards.
Accreditation is the granting of public recognition to a school, university
or course of study that meets certain established standards and qualifications.
It provides a professional judgment regarding the quality of the schools
or programs, while also encouraging continual improvement. The practice of
accreditation is a means of conducting nongovernmental, peer evaluation
of educational institutions.
These criteria usually involve inspection of
qualities of an institution's:
Purpose or Mission
Organization
Administration
Programs Descriptions
Faculty
Facilities
Admission policies
Equipment
Financials
Ownership
Financial aid (also known as TITLE IV funding) from government is awarded only to
students who attend recognized or accredited institutions.
