“Program accreditation” refers to the accreditation of academic courses such as liberal arts, sciences, education or commerce. PAASCU’s policy extends accreditation by program. This means that individual courses of study, such as liberal arts, sciences, commerce and education are evaluated by PAASCU and given proper accreditation.

In contrast, “institutional accreditation” refers to the accreditation of the school, college or institution as a whole. This focuses on the overall quality of the school, college or institution based on the quality of its core program offerings, namely Arts and Sciences, Education and Business. Institutional accreditation is anchored on program accreditation.

PAASCU accreditation of a high school or a grade school is considered program accreditation.