School officials must update their institution’s Form I-17 when information on the petition changes or does not reflect the institution’s current operating status. Changes must be reported within 21 days of the change. This includes changes to information on Page 3 of the Form I-17: Accreditations and Recognitions.

To complete the Form I-17 petition, schools must list any over-arching institutional accreditations they hold under at least one of the four following categories:

• U. S. Department of Education Recognized Agencies
• SEVP-Identified Accrediting Agencies
• State Recognitions
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Accreditation and Recognition Categories

*If an agency appears in both lists, select the agency from the list most appropriate for your school, for example, post-secondary versus K-12.

Guidelines for Accreditations and Recognitions

Schools must report to SEVIS only institutional accreditations and recognitions that allow them to offer the programs of study listed on the Form I-17. Program or department-specific accreditations are needed only if the institutional accreditation or recognition does not cover all programs listed on the Form I-17.

Schools must list only their accreditations and recognitions. Do not enter association memberships into SEVIS.

To update your school’s accreditations and recognitions information on the Form I-17:

1. Go to the Listing of Schools page.

  2. Click the school’s drop-down list and select the school to edit. The selected school name displays as a hyperlink below the drop-down menu.

3. Click the hyperlinked school name. The School Information page opens with the name of the school displayed at the top of the page. 

4. Click the Update School Information (Form I-17) link under the Actions section on the left of the School Information page. The Update School Information (Form I-17): Contact Information page opens.

5. Click Page 3: Accreditations and Recognitions link in the top, left box of the Update School Information (Form I-17) page. The Accreditations and Recognitions page opens.

  6. The school’s current accreditation information pre-populates. 

If your school does not hold an accreditation or recognition in a section, leave None selected. There are several situations when accreditations or recognitions are not held. They are described below:

  7. Update the accreditation and recognition information, as needed. 

Section 3.1: Date School Was Established

• Enter the date your school was established.
• Format – MM/DD/YYYY.

Section 3.2: Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies

Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies are the federally recognized agencies that authorize your school (not the state departments of education). 

  1. To enter a new Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency from the Accreditations and Recognitions page:

Click Add. The Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies modal opens.

Click the Agency drop-down arrow to display the list of Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies.

• Select the accrediting agency.

Note: Use the Optional Comments field on this page to list any state agency not in the drop-menu.

• Enter the Effective Date of accreditation. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

• Enter the Expiration Date of accreditation. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

• To add more Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies, click Add Another and repeat the above steps to include all desired agencies.
• Click Done to add the accrediting agency or agencies. The agencies are displayed with the agency name, effective date, and expiration date.

2. To edit the accreditation dates or delete an accrediting agency:

• Click Edit to the left of a specific accrediting agency’s date. The Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agencies modal opens.

• Change the dates in the Effective Date or Expiration Date fields, if needed.
• Click Delete Entry, if the Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agency does not authorize your school any longer.

Click Done when the update is completed. 

Section 3.3: SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies

The SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies that authorize your school are used primarily by K‑12 schools.

1. To enter a new SEVP Identified Accrediting Agency from the Accreditations and Recognitions page:

Click Add. The SEVP Identified Accredited Agencies modal opens.

Click the Agency drop-down arrow to display the list of SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies.

Select the accrediting agency.

Enter the Effective Date of accreditation. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

Enter the Expiration Date of accreditation. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

• To add more SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies, click Add Another and repeat the above steps to include all desired agencies.
• When the last agency is entered, click Done to add the accrediting agency/agencies. The agencies are displayed with the agency name, effective date, and expiration date immediately below the Add button of the SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies field.

  2. To edit the accreditation dates or delete an accrediting agency:

Click Edit to the left of a specific accrediting agency’s date. The SEVP Identified Accrediting Agencies modal opens.

• Change the Effective Date or Expiration Date, as needed.
• Click Delete Entry to delete the accrediting agency, as needed.
• Click Done.

Section 3.4: State Recognitions

The State Recognitions agency or organization is the state educational oversight body under which your school is authorized or licensed. If your school has campuses in more than one state, there may be more than one state authorization listed in this field. 

  1. To add a new State Recognition from the Accreditations and Recognitions page:

Click Add. The State Recognitions modal opens.

• Click the State Recognition drop-down arrow and select either:

  • Name of the state: name of state agency – Agency that recognizes or licenses your school to operate.

  • Name of the state: Exempt – School is exempt from State Recognition.

  • Name of the state: Veterans Affairs – School has Veterans Affairs recognition in lieu of State Recognition.

Enter the Effective Date of the State Recognition. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY) 

Enter the Expiration Date of the State Recognition. (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

To add more State Recognition agencies, click Add Another and repeat the above steps until all desired recognitions are added.

• Click Done when the last state recognition is entered. The recognitions are displayed with the state and recognition name, effective date, and expiration date immediately below the Add button.

2. To edit the accreditation dates or delete a State Recognition:

Click Edit to the left of a specific State Recognition’s date. The State Recognitions modal opens.

• Change the Effective Date or Expiration Date, as needed, and click Done.

• Click Delete Entry to delete the State Recognition or exemption.

Section 3.5: Optional Comments

Use the Optional Comments field to enter information about licenses, accreditations, and other recognitions that are relevant to SEVP certification. 

• Enter any clarifying comments about the school's accreditation and recognition. 
• there is a 1,000 character limit on this field with a characters remaining

Section 3.6: FAA Certfication

Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is required for schools that offer flight training. Flight school officials must enter the school’s FAA Part 141 or 142 Certification and Air Agency Certificate number with expiration date. SEVP only accepts full FAA Part 141 or 142 Certifications. To edit or delete FAA Certifications:

• Select either Part 141/Part 142, None, or Not Required.
  • Click either None or Not Required, if your school does not have any FAA Certifications.
    • None means that your school does not offer any flight-related programs to nonimmigrant students.
    • Not Required means that your school may have an FAA Certification, but you do not offer any flight-related programs to nonimmigrant students; or you selected a Department of Education Recognized Accrediting Agency, SEVP Identified Accrediting Agency, or State Recognition that covers your school’s programs.

• Select FAA Certified – Part 141 and/or Part 142 to enter the school’s FAA Part 141 or Part 142 Certification Number with expiration date.

• Enter the FAA Certificate Number for either Part 141, Part 142, or for both.

  • Use a maximum of eight characters in the FAA Certification Number.

  • Do not use any special characters or spaces.

  • Enter the Effective Date of the FAA Certificate Number.
    (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

• Enter the Expiration Date of the FAA Certificate Number.
  (Format – MM/DD/YYYY)

• To edit either Part 141/Part 142:

  • Deselect radio button for FAA Certified – Part 141 and/or Part 142. Existing information will be deleted.

  • Enter information, as detailed above. All rules and requirements remain constant.

Submit Accreditations and Recognitions Petition Updates

When all required accreditation and recognition changes have been completed: 

1. Use the function buttons at the bottom of the page to:

• Save Draft: Saves changes made to the Form I-17 in draft without submitting changes.
• Print Draft: Prints out a new Form I-17 without submitting changes.
• Previous: Returns the user to Page 2: Programs of Study page without submitting changes.
• Next: Brings the user to Page 4: School Calendar, Costs, and Demographics page without submitting changes.
• Cancel: Cancels all changes made to the Form I-17 without saving changes and restores previous, saved values.

2. Click Submit in the top, left corner of the page to open the submission page, Edit School Information (Form I-17). See the Form I-17 Petition Update – Submit article in SEVIS Help Hub for instructions on completing the submission process.

Same Accredititing Agency - Different Dates

SEVIS only allows schools to select an accrediting agency once. Since some schools have different review dates for their individual campuses, schools should enter the accreditation validity dates associated with the school whose accreditation expires last.

The accreditation information would then only need to be updated by the Expiration Date listed on the Form I-17.

Different Accrediting Agencies for Different Campuses

Multi-campus schools may have different accreditations for the different locations. SEVIS does not provide the ability to enter such comments when selecting a specific accrediting agency. Schools must use the Optional Comments field on the Accreditations and Recognitions page to capture this information.

Select the accrediting agencies from the appropriate drop-down lists. If your campuses have different expiration dates, enter the Effective Date and Expiration Date per the instruction above. In the Optional Comments field, enter the name of the agencies, followed by the listing of SEVIS Campus Codes for the schools covered by each accrediting agency. The school Campus Code consists of the last three digits of the SEVIS school code.