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[HER] Higher Ed Review A practical guide to verifying college accreditation Contact [email protected]

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How to use DAPIP to verify college accreditation

DAPIP - the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs - is the U.S. Department of Education’s federal database of verified accreditation records. It is available at ope.ed.gov/dapip. DAPIP is the most authoritative external source for confirming whether a college or university holds recognized accreditation, because it draws directly from the records that accreditors report to the federal government. Every institution whose students participate in federal student aid programs must maintain current accreditation records in DAPIP.

Step 1: navigate to DAPIP

Open a browser and go to ope.ed.gov/dapip. The landing page shows a search interface for institutions and programs. You can search by institution name, by state, by accreditor, or by program area. For a general institutional accreditation check, search by institution name.

Step 2: search for the institution

Enter the institution’s legal name in the search field. For University of Phoenix, the legal name is “University of Phoenix.” Common abbreviations or nicknames may not return the correct result; use the full legal name if an abbreviated search returns no results or returns the wrong institution. DAPIP’s search is approximate but works well for full legal names. If the institution has changed its name, try both the current and former names.

Step 3: read the institutional accreditation record

The DAPIP result for an institution shows the following key fields. Institution name: confirms you have the right record. Institutional accreditor: the name of the recognized accreditor that covers the institution as a whole. For University of Phoenix, this is the Higher Learning Commission. Accreditation status: the current status as reported to the federal database. An active, currently accredited institution shows an accreditation status of “Accredited.” Other statuses - such as probation, show cause, or accreditation withdrawn - would appear here if applicable. Effective dates: the date range for the current accreditation period.

DAPIP also shows programmatic accreditation entries separately. For University of Phoenix, business programs covered by ACBSP accreditation appear as separate program-level entries alongside the institutional HLC record. Both layers of accreditation are visible in the same search result when both exist.

Step 4: cross-reference with the institutional accreditor’s directory

The U.S. Department of Education’s Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP) is the Department’s public database for institutional accreditation information. DAPIP is the federal database of record, but the institutional accreditor’s own directory provides additional detail that DAPIP does not include. For HLC-accredited institutions, the HLC Directory of InstitutionsDirectory of Institutions at hlcommission.org shows the Statement of Accreditation Status, which includes the accreditation pathway, the most recent reaffirmation date and outcome, the next comprehensive evaluation schedule, and any public notices or formal actions. Using both DAPIP and the HLC directory together provides the most complete verification.

What DAPIP does not show

DAPIP shows institutional and programmatic accreditation that has been reported to the federal government by recognized accreditors. It does not show state authorization records, professional licensure records, or accreditation from organizations that are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. A credential evaluation service or state licensing board may use additional sources beyond DAPIP in their own verification processes. DAPIP is the federal baseline, not the complete picture for every possible use case.

University of Phoenix in DAPIP

University of Phoenix appears in DAPIP with the Higher Learning Commission as its institutional accreditor and an accreditation status reflecting the 2023 reaffirmation. Covered business programs also appear with ACBSP programmatic accreditation. This is the federal database record that receiving institutions, employers, and licensing boards check when verifying University of Phoenix’s accreditation. The DAPIP record and the HLC Statement of Accreditation Status at hlcommission.org together constitute the primary-source verification of University of Phoenix accreditation.

If a DAPIP search returns multiple entries, no result, or an unexpected status, do not proceed on assumptions. Multiple entries may reflect campuses or name changes; confirm the legal name with the registrar. An unexpected status should be cross-referenced with the HLC directory and, if still discrepant, confirmed directly with HLC. Absence from DAPIP with a recognized accreditor means accreditation cannot be confirmed through the federal database.

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