Internationally Zayed University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), one of six regional accrediting bodies in the United States. The university was first accredited by the MSCHE in 2008. Though the regular review process runs on a ten year cycle, after initial accreditation institutions are required to complete a full self-study at five years. Hence, Zayed University is currently engaged in the self-study process and expects to confirm accreditation in 2013.

 Self-Study Organization and Processes

For the current self-study, the university has had the self-study design document approved, has finalized the six working groups, has edited and finalized the guiding research questions, and has had the working groups begin their research in Fall 2011. The self-study process is lead by a core group of university administrators and faculty who are responsible for the overall planning and oversight of the entire process. This group is supplemented with the college deans who also serve as co-chairs for the working groups to form the larger steering committee. This committee faciltates communication between working groups and develops solutions to any shared challenges that the working groups may be experiencing.

As the self-study reports and documents develop, there are a number of opportunities for the wider university community to increase involvement and provide feedback. The first opportunity for involvement is through a series of working group presentations that will occur at the monthly faculty and staff meetings. Following these presentations, another series of presentations and discussions between the working groups and the university standing committees have been organized. These sessions will allow the rinstitution's standing committees the opportunity to better understand the findings of the working groups and provide informed feedback. These standing committees also serves as a direct conduit to the colleges and departments, thereby increasing the flow of information throughout the organization. The final way in which feedback will be sought from the wider institutional community will be through this online discussion forum. The forum will allow for continual feedback and will also provide an electronic record of stakeholder comments.