Choosing a school, college, or university is a significant decision for every family. Parents often help students compare institutions, understand educational options, evaluate costs, and consider what a programme may mean for future study and professional opportunities.
ACISC provides accreditation information that can help families understand an institution’s participation in an independent quality-assurance process. Accreditation should be considered alongside the institution, programme, qualification, student support, costs, legal status, and the requirements relevant to your child’s future plans.
Accreditation can be useful information when evaluating an educational institution, but it should never be the only factor in a family’s decision. Parents and students should examine the institution from several perspectives and ask questions before making a financial or educational commitment.
Check the institution’s current ACISC accreditation status through official records rather than relying only on statements made by the institution.
Review the programme, qualification, costs, student services, location, legal status, and educational environment. Start with what accreditation means and what it does not mean.
Consider what your child may want to do after graduation and confirm any recognition, admission, licensing, employment, immigration, or other requirements in advance.
ACISC accreditation is an independent quality-assurance status resulting from an applicable institutional evaluation and formal decision-making process. The accreditation framework considers evidence relating to institutional quality and effectiveness within the relevant standards.
For parents, accreditation can provide useful information about an institution’s participation in external quality assurance. It does not, however, mean that every student will have a particular educational, employment, transfer, licensing, or admission outcome.
Accreditation provides a structured framework through which an institution’s educational practices and institutional effectiveness can be examined against applicable standards. Explore the accreditation framework and protocol for more context.
Institutions participating in accreditation are expected to demonstrate evidence concerning applicable areas of governance, educational provision, student support, resources, integrity, and improvement. See the accreditation criteria for the areas considered.
Accreditation involves more than an institution making its own claims. The applicable process includes evidence review and external evaluation.
Quality assurance is intended to support ongoing institutional evaluation, responsibility, reflection, and improvement rather than a one-time achievement. Learn more about the accreditation cycle.
What Accreditation Means About Accreditation Review the Criteria
Parents should pay close attention to the language an institution uses when describing its relationship with ACISC. Membership, eligibility, application, and accreditation are distinct.
The safest approach is to verify the institution’s current status directly through ACISC’s official information and understand the scope of any accreditation that is listed.
An institution may participate in an applicable ACISC membership category without being accredited. Learn more about ACISC membership.
An institution that has applied for accreditation is participating in a process. An application does not itself constitute accreditation. See accreditation applications and forms.
Eligibility means that an institution may proceed through an applicable accreditation pathway. It does not guarantee accreditation. Learn about determination of eligibility.
Accreditation is granted through the applicable evaluation, review, and formal decision-making process. Explore the accreditation process.
Check whether the accreditation is currently valid rather than relying on historical certificates or older website information. Use Verify Accreditation.
Where applicable, understand which institution, campus, educational activity, and period the accreditation covers. Review accreditation status and scope.
Verify Accreditation Understand Status & Scope View Accredited Institutions
Parents can help students make better decisions by asking specific questions rather than relying on general statements about quality, recognition, or future opportunities.
What is the institution’s legal status? Who is responsible for authorizing it to operate? Where is it located? What educational programmes does it provide? Parents can also use the ACISC institutions information as part of their research.
Is the institution currently accredited? What is the accreditation scope? What is the effective period? Can the status be independently verified through ACISC verification?
What will the student study? How long is the programme? What qualification will be awarded? Who awards the qualification? Review recognition considerations where future study or professional requirements may apply.
What are the tuition fees and other charges? What payment arrangements apply? What happens if the student withdraws or the programme changes?
What academic, personal, accessibility, health, safeguarding, and well-being support is available? Review ACISC information on mental health and well-being and student protection and safeguarding.
How can students raise concerns or complaints? Who receives them? What appeal or review procedures are available? See complaints and accountability for the ACISC perspective.
One of the most important questions for a family is what the student’s qualification will allow them to do after graduation. Recognition and acceptance can depend on the receiving university, employer, professional organization, government authority, or other relevant body.
Parents should therefore confirm important future requirements before enrolment rather than assuming that accreditation automatically provides recognition everywhere. The ACISC recognition information explains this distinction in greater detail.
If your child may continue to another university, ask the receiving institution about admission, transfer, prerequisite, and qualification requirements.
For regulated careers, contact the relevant professional or licensing authority and confirm which qualifications and requirements apply.
Employers may establish their own requirements for qualifications, experience, language, and professional competence.
If your child plans to study in another country, investigate the receiving institution’s admission and recognition requirements in advance.
Visa and immigration decisions are made by the relevant governmental authorities. Confirm current requirements directly with those authorities.
Equivalency decisions can depend on the receiving institution or authority. Do not assume that an accreditation status establishes equivalency automatically.
Parents should consider how an institution protects and supports students as well as what it teaches. Safeguarding, student well-being, health and safety, reporting procedures, and access to support are important parts of evaluating an educational environment.
Ask who is responsible for safeguarding, how concerns are reported, and what procedures apply when a concern is raised. See Student Protection & Safeguarding.
Understand what mental-health, welfare, academic, and personal support is available to students. Explore Mental Health & Well-Being.
Consider how staff are trained and how responsibilities for student protection and support are defined.
Students should know how to raise a concern and who will receive and respond to it. Review the safeguarding standards for further context.
Parents should be able to find or request relevant student-protection, complaints, safeguarding, and support information.
Strong institutions review their practices and use evidence and experience to identify opportunities for improvement.
Student Protection & Safeguarding Safeguarding Standards Mental Health & Well-Being
Parents can provide valuable support without making the educational decision entirely on a student’s behalf. Encourage your child to understand the programme, ask questions, compare alternatives, and consider how the choice fits their own academic and professional goals.
Help your child ask institutions direct questions about programmes, qualifications, costs, support, admissions, and future opportunities.
Look beyond promotional material and compare programmes, institutional environments, costs, support, location, and future pathways.
When an institution makes a claim about accreditation or recognition, check the claim through the relevant official source. Begin with ACISC verification.
Consider the complete financial commitment and ensure the family understands the fees and other expected expenses.
Discuss the student’s support needs, living arrangements, safety, mental health, accessibility, and transition to the educational environment.
Investigate requirements that may affect further study, employment, professional licensing, or international mobility after graduation. Use ACISC’s student information as another starting point.
Families supporting students who want to study internationally can explore ACISC resources that connect students, guidance professionals, schools, and participating higher education institutions.
The registry provides a route for students to share their academic interests and potential study destinations with participating ACISC member universities.
Explore resources connecting guidance counsellors with international university admissions professionals supporting students’ transition to higher education.
Explore opportunities for students, parents, and guidance professionals to connect with university admissions representatives.
For students considering international higher education, you can also explore connections with universities seeking international students and the wider higher education community.
An unexpected campus or institutional closure can be especially difficult for students and families. If this happens, obtain written information from the institution and understand how the student’s education, academic records, finances, and future plans will be affected.
Ask whether the institution will continue teaching, provide a teach-out arrangement, or identify another institution where students can complete their studies.
If considering another institution, obtain written information about credit transfer, admission requirements, tuition, and other conditions.
Ask how transcripts, financial-aid records, and other important student records will be protected and made available.
Ask about refunds, outstanding financial obligations, and any relevant governmental or regulatory assistance available in the applicable jurisdiction.
Parents and students should first understand the institution’s own complaints, grievance, appeal, safeguarding, and student-support procedures. Keep important documents and written communications where a concern may involve fees, academic records, enrolment, or another significant issue.
Some matters may fall under governmental, regulatory, professional, judicial, or other external authorities rather than ACISC. ACISC’s accreditation role does not replace those authorities.
Review and follow the appropriate institutional complaint or grievance procedure where applicable.
Where a matter relates to applicable accreditation responsibilities, review ACISC’s complaints and accountability information.
Contact the appropriate government, regulator, professional body, or other authority where the matter falls within its responsibility.
Review the programme, qualification, institution, location, costs, and student-support arrangements.
Ask the institution for clear answers to questions about admissions, recognition, fees, policies, or student support.
Check important future requirements directly with the university, employer, professional body, regulator, or government authority concerned.
Consider the complete picture and choose the option that best fits your child’s academic, personal, and professional goals.
Explore detailed student information about accreditation, verification, recognition, student support, and choosing an institution.
Explore the broader ACISC information hub for families considering educational institutions.
Explore ACISC information about institutions with accreditation records.
Understand the purpose of accreditation and its relationship to educational quality assurance.
Understand why recognition and acceptance can depend on the relevant university, authority, employer, or professional organization.
Review ACISC information about safeguarding, student safety, well-being, and institutional responsibility.
Explore information about student mental health, well-being, support, and institutional responsibility.
Review practical guidance for students and families when an educational institution or campus unexpectedly closes.
Your child’s education is an important investment. Start with reliable information, verify accreditation status, understand the qualification being offered, investigate student support and costs, and confirm any future recognition or professional requirements that matter to your family.
ACISC accreditation can be one useful part of that evaluation. The best decision is one based on the complete picture and on your child’s individual academic, personal, and professional goals.
Verify an Institution Students & Parents Student Information