Accrediting bodies are among the thousands of voluntary organizations. They are 501(c)3 operations,
as is the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a national membership organization
charged with national coordination of accreditation. As a result, consumer protection laws against
such entities as degree mills, accreditation mills and illegally operating organizations claiming to be
educational institutions must be subject to enforcement by government agencies – the Federal Trade
Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Department of
Education (USDE) or state government supervisory agencies.