THE PROGRAM OF ACCREDITATION

A. What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is viewed as a process by which an institution at the tertiary level evaluates its
educational activities, in whole or in part, and seeks an independent judgment to confirm that it
substantially achieves its objectives, and is generally equal in quality to comparable institutions.

B. Program As the Unit of Assessment

Currently, accreditation in state colleges and universities is by program. A program is defined as

a course or a group of related courses packaged in a curriculum and leading to a graduate or
undergraduate degree. Examples of programs are elementary teacher education, civil
engineering, agriculture, etc.
AACCUP is now considering other models, like, accrediting by institution as alternatives to, or to
complement program accreditation.

C. Other Attributes

Aside from being program-focused, accreditation is:

1. based on standards of the accrediting agency, which are normally higher than those set
by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and other appropriate agencies, e.g.
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).;

2. voluntary on the part of the higher education institution that may want to be
accredited;

3. an evaluation by peers, i. e. the external accreditors are mostly faculty members from
other higher education institutions; and

4. non-governmental.
BENEFITS OF ACCREDITATION

A. Programs that have passed the standards, and are awarded accreditation status:

1. lend prestige to member institutions, justified by the possession of quality

standards and unremitting efforts to maintain them at high level;

2. help parents to know which program they may send their children to for quality
education;

3. make all those engaged in education aware of standards of excellence which

they should strive to attain;

4. make possible for those proposing funding and those who are to fund, to know
what to support and how much support is needed; and
5. make possible for an evaluated program to know its strength and weaknesses,
and in what aspects it needs to develop.

B. Accreditation has also been used as a criterion in administrative decision-making in a

variety of ways:

1. applicants for teaching in the Department of Education (DepEd) who are

graduates of accredited programs are granted credit points;

2. used as a criterion in the leveling of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs);

3. used as a criterion in the selection of schools for foreign students;

4. some agencies consult AACCUP about the accreditation status of colleges and
universities attended by their employees for purposes of promotion; and
 5. sometimes foreign universities consult AACCUP regarding the accreditation
status of programs attended by Filipino students seeking admission.

C. In view of the failure of CHED Order No. 31 to provide benefits to SUCs, AACCUP has
taken cognizance of the following potential incentives to be granted to accredited
programs/institutions:

1. as a rational basis for budgetary requests;

2. for normative financing;

3. as a factor in the selection of Center of Excellence (COEs) and Center of

Development (CODs);

4. for SUCs leveling;

5. as a requirement for the conversion of a college to a university;

6. as a factor in assessing the appointment/transfer of an SUC President; and

7. for matching-fund schemes where requirements for accreditation are matched

with funds from CHED.

THE CONDUCT OF ACCREDITATION

A. Stages of Accreditation

The accreditation process passes through different stages/activities:

Application
An educational institution files its application to undergo accreditation with AACCUP.

Institutional Self-survey

Upon approval of the application, the applicant institution will be required to make an internal
assessment by its internal accreditors to determine the program's readiness for external
review.

Preliminary Survey Visit

It is the evaluation of the program for the first time by external accreditors. Passing the
assessment entitles the program to be awarded a Candidate status valid for two (2) years.
1st (Formal) Survey Visit
The evaluation of the program which has attained Candidate status, and if it has attained a
higher level of quality, is awarded a Level I Accredited status, good for three (3) years.
2nd Survey Visit
Involves the evaluation of an accredited program, and if it has passed the standards set at a
higher level of quality than the immediately preceding survey visit, may qualify the program to
an award of Level II Re-accredited status, good for five (5) years.
3rd Survey Visit
the accreditation stage conducted after a program has enjoyed a Level II Re-accredited status
for five (5) years. Passing a higher level standard of quality entitles the program to apply for
Level III. The program is then evaluated and must excel in four (4) areas, namely: 1) instruction
and 2) extension, which are mandatory; and two (2) more areas to be chosen from among
research, performance in licensure examination, faculty development, and linkages.
4th Survey Visit
is a higher level which if hurdled, may entitle the institution to an institutional accreditation
status.

B. Criteria Used

There are ten (10) criteria (areas) that are used in the assessment of programs:

1. Mission, goals and objectives

2. Faculty
 3. Curriculum and Instruction
4. Students
5. Research
6. Extension and Community Involvement
7. Library
8. Physical Fitness
9. Laboratories
10. Administration

C. Accreditation Instruments

The evaluation instrument (aide memoire) which uses the 10 criteria described above is the
working guide of the Accreditor. Starting with instruments for five (5) programs in 1992; then to
ten (10) programs in 1994; there are already thirty-nine (39) instruments for thirty-nine (39)
programs which have undergone revision for the first time in year 2000. These instruments
were updated in 2003. The instruments for the following programs are available:

1. Accountancy 21. Graduate Education: Master's

2. Agricultural Business Economics
3. Agricultural Engineering
4. Agricultural Technology
5. Agriculture
6. Architecture
7. Arts and Social Sciences
8. Arts and Sciences
9. Business Administration
10. Civil Engineering
11. Computer Engineering
12. Cooperatives
13. Electronics and Communications
Engineering
14. Electrical Engineering
15. Elementary Teacher Education
16. Engineering
17. Fisheries
18. Food Technology
19. Forestry
20. Graduate Education: Doctoral
22. Graduate Education
23. Home Technology
24. Hotel and Restaurant
Management
25. Industrial Technology
26. Information Technology /
Computer Science
27. Library and Information Science
28. Mass Communication
29. Mechanical Engineering
30. Nursing
31. Nutrition and Dietetics
32. Office Administration
33. Physical Education
34. Public Administration
35. Sciences
36. Secondary Teacher Education
37. Teacher Education
38. Tourism
39. Veterinary Medicine
ACCREDITORS
The actual accreditation survey visits are conducted by teams of accreditors usually composed
of five (5) members per team per program staying in the host institution for a period of three
(3) days.

At present AACCUP has already trained over 900 senior faculty members with different
specializations from different state universities and colleges. More than 500 have qualified, and
323 are active members of the Pool of Accreditors.