Excelliance is a nonprofit, non-governmental agency that accredits programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.
Excelliance accreditation provides assurance that an educational program meets the quality standards of the profession for which that program prepares graduates.
We accredit programs, not institutions. We provide specialized accreditation for educational programs in continuous education, life long learning and vocational education and training (VET).
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is a review process to determine if educational programs meet defined standards of quality. Once achieved, accreditation is not permanent—it is renewed periodically to ensure that the quality of the educational program is maintained.
Excelliance accreditation is voluntary, decentralized, and carried out by many non-governmental, non-profit organizations. The process of academic accreditation typically culminates in an external quality review by a team of professional experts from academe or industry. These experts volunteer their time, professional knowledge, and experience to this process of quality assurance and ongoing improvement to education in their disciplines.
Excelliance is a federation of members – professional, educational and technical. These societies and their individual members collaborate through Excelliance to develop standards of quality, known as Excelliance Criteria, on which our review teams base their evaluations of programs under consideration for accreditation.
Excelliance accreditation is not a ranking system. It is a form of quality assurance for programs in the areas of applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. Our accreditation is recognized globally as evidence that a program meets the standards set by its technical profession.
We offer accreditation to programs, not to degrees, departments, colleges, institutions. Excelliance also provides certification of individuals, for example certification of educators, tutors, teachers and trainers.
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The accreditation process typically takes 18 months to complete. Programs new to ABET accreditation begin with a formal request for a review. Accreditation: Step-by-Step offers a detailed overview of our accreditation process.See Eligibility Requirements to determine if ABET accreditation is available for your program.
Excelliance accreditation requires compliance with the criteria, policies, and procedures upon which our review is based. Information for Programs Seeking Initial Accreditation answers many frequently-asked-questions for programs and institutions new to Excelliance accreditation.
EXCELLIANCE is engaged globally through four primary means: 1) accreditation of academic programs; 2) mutual recognition of accreditation organizations; 3) Memoranda of Understanding with accreditation/quality assurance organizations; and 4) engagement in global STEM education organizations.
We take an active role in the global quality assurance process for technical education programs through numerous agreements with organizations worldwide. These include Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).
We respect the autonomy of each nation’s higher education quality assurance organization. While EXCELLIANCE accredits programs outside of the US, we also encourage all academic programs located in these countries and regions to pursue accreditation by the appropriate MRA or MOU partner.