HEAC is a private, non-profit organization that co-ordinates accreditation activities in the United States. It was established in 1998 with the aim to work for the establishment of better education standards with accrediting organizations.

In the last few years, it has been noticed that the standard of education has dropped radically. This is particularly true for universities that provide distance learning through the internet. Some of these online universities claim to be fully accredited. However the agencies through which these universities are accredited, do not monitor and maintain the standards of education for these universities on a regular basis. For this reason HEAC has developed a program that co-ordinates with accrediting agencies in order to help them maintain the required standards of education.

The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets
acceptable levels of quality. Accreditation in the United States involves non-governmental entities as well
as governmental agencies.

Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or national scope, develop
evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.

At present, HEAC recognizes six governmental regional accrediting organizations that accredit traditional universities, and four non-governmental International Accrediting Organizations that accredit online universities providing distance learning. These are the principal legitimate American accrediting agencies. If an institution is accredited by a body not included here, proceed with caution before making a decision. To view these organizations, click on the appropriate link below: