Degrees or other qualifications from unaccredited institutions may not be accepted by civil service or other employers.
Some unaccredited institutions have formal legal authorization to enroll students or issue degrees, but in some jurisdictions (notably including the United States) legal authorization to operate is not the same as educational accreditation.
[3] Other institutions (for example, a number of Bible colleges and seminaries) choose not to participate in the accreditation process because they view it as an infringement of their religious, academic, or political freedom.
Also in the United States, many colleges and universities existed prior to the development of the modern accreditation system.
[6] There are many organizations which give their own accreditation, not generally recognised as valid by governments and others, to educational institutions.