Accreditation is voluntary The US Department of Education and all of its recognized accreditors consider accreditation to be a voluntary process. Religious schools are not legally required to be accredited Religious schools are not legally required to be accredited because they do not offer secular degrees. Religious exempt colleges Some states, including 22 in the US (including South Carolina), have "religious exempt" colleges that are allowed to issue degrees by state legislature. In these cases, the state delegates its degree authorization powers to churches.