As a result, the quality and quantity of didactic and clinical education has increased substantially, the master's level program was accredited, new standards have been created for programs offering complementary training in herbal medicine, and a doctoral level of education has recently been developed. The results of this cooperative effort among the Council's member schools have become clearly evident . These standards cover the areas of educational purpose, organization, and governance, administration, records, admissions, evaluation processes, curriculum, faculty, student services, library, physical facility, finances, and advertising. Each member school carries one vote at the Council's bi-annual meetings. Most of the Council's work is done through its committees, of which there are currently seventeen.
Accreditation is a voluntary activity undertaken by educational institutions and programs.
Accreditation Commissions are not regulatory agencies in the way that state or federal agencies are empowered by acts of law to require that institutions undergo their regulatory process in order to operate. Rather, accreditation is the act of peer review. In other words, an institution or program chooses on a voluntary basis to comply with the standards and requirements developed by the peer group and administered by an independent body established by the peer group. Accreditation Commissions, in general, are made up not only of individuals from the peer group, but with some representation from the public to provide an outside perspective and to protect the public interest. The purpose of accreditation is not only to review compliance with certain educational standards, but also to encourage programs to continually improve.