Accreditation is a private, voluntary system of self-regulation that relies on peer evaluators. The Commission maintains a database of over 1,500 senior faculty members, deans, administrators, and institutional presidents who have been carefully selected to conduct campus visits. They evaluate institutions according to the Standards for Accreditation and are given in-depth training for this important task.

Peer evaluators are all volunteers. They are assigned to institutions comparable to their own and are responsible for excusing themselves from participating in any evaluation that may raise issues of conflict of interest for them. They work without compensation in service to the higher education community.