Who Accredits the Colleges and Universities in the Philippines?

Accreditation is a process for assessing and upgrading the educational quality of higher education institutions and programs through self-evaluation and peer judgment. It leads to the grant of accredited status by accrediting agency and provides public recognition and information on educational quality.

There are five agencies that evaluate colleges and universities in the Philippines. These agencies are group into two federation/network of accrediting agencies.

Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP)

These agencies accredit private colleges and universities.

• PAASCU - Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities. http://www.paascu.org.ph


• PACUCOA - Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation. http://www.pacucoa.ph/


• ACSU-AAI - Association of Christian Schools, Colleges, and Universities - Accrediting Agency, Inc.

National Network of Quality Assurance Agencies, Inc. (NNQAA) These agencies are responsible for the accreditation of government schools, colleges, and universities.

• AACCUP - Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines. http://www.aaccupqa.org.ph/


• ALCUCOA - Association of Local Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation

Accreditation Levels for Program Accreditation

• Candidate Status: for programs which have undergone a preliminary survey visit and are certified by federation/network as being capable of acquiring accredited status within two years.


• Level I Accredited Status: for programs which have been granted initial accreditation after a formal survey by the accrediting agency and duly certified by the accreditation federation/network, effective for a period of three years.


• Level II Re-Accredited Status: for programs which have been re-accredited by the accrediting agency and duly certified by the accreditation federation/network, effective for a period of three or five years based on the appraisal of the accrediting agency.


• Level III Re-Accredited Status: for programs which have been re-accredited and have met the additional criteria/guidelines set by the federation/network for this level.


• Level IV Accredited Status: accredited programs are highly respected as very high quality academic programs in the Philippines and with prestige and authority comparable to similar programs in excellent foreign universities These programs must have met the additional criteria/guidelines.

Source: CHED - CMO_01_S_2005.pdf