Educational accreditation is a voluntary process under which educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external agency for quality assurance and improvement. Cornuel (2007) mentions innovative programs, an excellent faculty body, international exposures, and accreditation for any quality improvement program. Whilst most accreditation
is institutional, certain academic programs or departments can be accredited independently of their institution. The roles of accreditation are mainly to provide an opportunity for academic institutions to demonstrate their programs' standard of quality and their commitment to continuous quality enhancement. For higher education, accreditation is mostly overseen by government agencies in many countries; however, in the United States the quality assurance process is totally independent of government, and is performed by private, non-profit associations. Students, as well as employers and the society, are interested in good quality higher education, including assurances and demonstrations of that quality, which reflect the expectations of the different stakeholders in education.