The United States does not have a federal Ministry of Education or any national authority that centrally oversees post-secondary institutions. Each state exercises its own level of oversight, but universities and colleges generally operate with significant independence. Because of this, the quality and character of American higher education can vary considerably from one institution to another.

To promote consistent standards, the system of accreditation developed in the U.S. as a non-governmental, peer-review process. Regional and national private educational associations created criteria that define a sound academic programme and established procedures to evaluate institutions and programmes against these expectations.

Accreditation serves several purposes: it verifies that an institution meets recognised standards, helps students identify acceptable study options, guides decisions on the transfer of academic credits, supports both public and private funding decisions, protects institutions from inappropriate internal or external influence, and encourages continuous improvement. It also ensures that faculty and staff participate meaningfully in evaluation and planning.

Overall, accreditation aims to confirm that higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. In the United States, this process involves both government bodies and independent accrediting organisations. These private associations set evaluation criteria and use peer review to determine whether an institution or programme meets them. Those that do are granted accredited status.

Within this framework, it is important to note that the University of NorthWest operates without accreditation from any agency recognised by the U.S. Department of Education, although it operates independently as a registered private institution.