Accreditation is a process by which a school is determined to have met predetermined quality standards determined and monitored by nongovernmental agencies authorized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. There are two types of accreditation: Institutional, for the school as a whole, is granted by a national or regional accreditation-granting organization. Programmatic or specialized accreditation acknowledges that a specific program within the school has successfully completed the accreditation process relevant to its field.