The WECHE accreditation is a system of accountability that is ongoing, voluntary, and comprehensive. It respects differences in institutional populations, missions, and cultures, and fosters institutional change grounded in the judgment of practicing educators. It is based on standards which are developed and regularly reviewed by the members and which define the characteristics of good schools and colleges.

WECHE accreditation is structured in a five-year cycle of: Self-study which engages the entire educational community in structured analysis, self-reflection, and planning in response to the standards. Peer review which brings discipline and perspective to the process through the observations and judgments of a visiting committee of peers from other schools and colleges, informed by the self-study and based on the standards. Follow-up which is monitored by a commission of elected peers and overseen by a professional staff to ensure that planned and prescribed institutional change is accomplished and which provides for intervention, as necessary, to respond to information gathered in regular reports from the institution or through complaints from the public concerning a failure to comply with the standards.