Computing Accreditation: Evolution and Trends Associated with U.S. Accrediting Agencies

Accreditation is the primary quality assurance mechanism for institutions and programs of higher education, which helps a program prove that it is of a quality acceptable to constituents. Its original emergence in the United States was to ensure that federal student loans were awarded in support of quality programs.

Since then, the need for accreditation has strengthened considerably, as the need for quality assurance continues to be in the forefront of educational concerns. For example, a recent report from the Commission on Higher Education identified several problems with the education system in the United States, a central one being the overall quality of higher education.

The continuing interest in accreditation emerges of three factors. First, recognition exists that the public is not always in a position to judge quality, certainly not for programs or institutions for higher education. Therefore, a need exists for an independently issued stamp of approval for programs and institutions of higher education.

Second, a lack of oversight exists in higher education. Unlike the public school system, colleges and universities have considerable freedom when it comes to curriculum design, hiring practices, and student expectations. This lack of oversight requires a different mechanism to ensure quality, and higher education has opted to use accreditation for this purpose.

Finally, many organizations have recognized the importance of continuous quality improvement, and higher education is no exception. As explained in this article, recent developments in accreditation reflect this trend. The objective of accreditation is not only to ensure that educational institutions strive for excellence but also to make certain that the process for ensuring high quality is apposite.

Two major types of accreditation are available in the United States: institutional accreditation (also called regional accreditation in the United States) and specialized accreditation. Specialized accreditation includes both program and school-specific accreditation, with the former applied to a unique program and the latter applied to an administrative unit within an institution.

In the United States, institutional accreditation is generally the responsibility of a regional accreditation body such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) (www.sacs.org) or the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (www.msche.org).

This article concentrates on accreditation in the computing discipline, focusing on the primary accreditation bodies accrediting U.S. programs, namely ABET, Inc. (www.abet. org) and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) (www.aacsb.edu).

ABET, Inc. is the primary body responsible for specialized program-level accreditation in computing. AACSB, on the other hand, provides specialized accreditation at the unit level and accredits business schools only. The latter implies that all the programs offered within the unit are accredited, including any computing programs that it may offer.

Both accrediting bodies have concentrated primarily on the accreditation of programs housed within U.S. institutions. ABET has evaluated programs outside the United States for ‘‘substantial equivalency,’’ which means the program is comparable in educational outcomes with a U.S.-accredited program. “Substantial equivalency’’ has been phased out, and international accreditation pilot visits are now being employed for visits within the United States. In 2003, AACSB members approved the international visits as relevant and applicable to all business programs and have accredited several programs outside of the United States.

The purpose of this article is to review key concepts associated with accreditation, discuss the state of computing accreditation by U.S. accrediting organizations and how accreditation has evolved through recent years, describe the criteria for accreditation put forth by the primary agencies that review computing programs, and review the typical process of accreditation.

Although many concepts are applicable to any accreditation process, we refer to AACSB and ABET, Inc., which well are recognized agencies that ensure quality in educational units that include technology or specialized computing programs. ABET’s Computer Accreditation Commission (CAC), as the primary agency targeting computing programs, is emphasized.