According to the U.S. Department of Education, "the goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met. Institutions and/or programs that request an agency's evaluation and that meet an agency's criteria are then "accredited" by that agency.”
Lamar University seeks accreditation both for the institution as a whole and for specific degree programs. Institutional accreditation is subject to the institution meeting and remaining in compliance with the accrediting standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a recognized regional accrediting body in the eleven U.S. Southern states and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees.
The eleven U.S. Southern states include:
Program specific accreditations are discipline and agency specific. A complete listing of accreditations held by Lamar University is available on the University/Program Accreditations webpage.
The Commission on Colleges bases its accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions and entities on requirements in the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement. These requirements apply to all institutional programs and services, regardless of location or delivery method.