What is accreditation?
Accreditation is required by higher educational institutions every six years and it means ‘to award a hallmark that indicates that certain quality standards have been satisfied’.  As far as accreditation in higher education is concerned, the Netherlands and Flanders have chosen for accreditation at the level of study programmes. To this end NVAO drafted and laid down accreditation frameworks for Flanders and the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands and Flanders, accreditation is a precondition for government funding of a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme, for the right of awarding recognised diplomas and, in the Netherlands, for granting financial assistance for students. In the light of the internationalisation of education and the labour market, accreditation provides for comparable quality assurance of higher education.

The Netherlands
NVAO is entrusted by law to accredit all existing bachelor’s and master’s degree courses and to validate new study programmes at government-funded higher education institutions, as well as institutions approved (but not funded) by the Dutch government. Institutions excluded from government funding or approval can apply for accreditation of post-initial master’s degree courses.

Have a look at the website of NVAO for more details.