Over the past several years the academic community has become abundantly aware of the requirements of university-wide and specialized accreditation. This paper describes the background to accreditation models initiated in several regions of the world, such as the specialized business accreditations of the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) in the US, giving the motivation as to why and how they were established. Comparisons will be drawn among these models, and describe the impact of specialized business accreditation at Webster University. Through this paper, the ongoing concern with higher education assessments and accreditation will be placed in a global context, something that is essential for academic institutions to remain competitive.