Education is regulated differently depending on the country, the level of study, and whether the provider is public, private, or online-only. There is no single global authority for any of this. These are the official sources for each function, organized by what they actually do.
US — Federal Trade Commission
What: The FTC enforces truth-in-advertising rules against for-profit schools and bootcamps — false job placement rates, deceptive enrollment tactics, and unfair loan terms fall under its jurisdiction.
US — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
What: The CFPB regulates student loans and income share agreements as credit products. For its complaint-filing tool specifically, see Section 5.
US — Department of Education
What: Sets federal education policy and administers federal student aid. Its accreditation database is a separate tool — see Section 2.
UK — Ofsted
What: Inspects and regulates schools, further education, and childcare providers in England.
UK — Office for Students
What: The independent regulator of higher education in England — registers providers and sets conditions around quality, access, and value for money.
UK — Department for Education
What: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed permanently on 31 March 2025 — its functions (including apprenticeship and further-education funding oversight) were absorbed directly into the Department for Education. This is the current department to go to; ESFA is defunct and no longer a live regulator.
Australia — ASQA
What: The national regulator for Australia's vocational education and training sector, including RTOs (Registered Training Organisations) and bootcamps.
EU — European Commission (Education & Training)
What: The European Commission's hub for EU-wide education policy. Actual accreditation and licensing is run by each member state — this is the entry point, not a single national regulator.
Check whether a school or qualification is actually accredited before you pay for it — a different function from the regulators in Section 1.
US — CHEA
What: The nonprofit that recognizes legitimate US accrediting bodies and maintains a public database of accredited institutions and programs — a first stop for spotting a diploma mill.
US — DAPIP (Dept. of Education accreditation database)
What: The US Department of Education's own searchable database of institutions and programs accredited by recognized accrediting agencies. This URL has moved before — confirmed current as of this publish.
Australia — CRICOS (accreditation lookup)
What: The official registry of Australian institutions and courses approved to enrol international students. Listed again in Section 4 for its visa-verification use — the search intent differs (checking accreditation here vs. confirming visa-sponsor eligibility there), not a duplicate.
Spain — RUCT
What: Spain's official public registry of universities, centres, and official degree titles (Grado, Máster, Doctorado). The older educacion.gob.es/ruct/home URL is outdated — this sede.gob.es address is the current live registry.
EU — European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
What: A reference framework for comparing qualification levels (1–8) across European countries — not a searchable accreditation database. Use it to understand what a foreign qualification level actually means, not to look up a specific institution.
The major online course and cohort-learning platforms' own sites — for course access, refunds, or account issues, go through the platform first.
Coursera
Udemy
Teachable
Kajabi
MasterClass
LinkedIn Learning
Confirm a school is actually approved to sponsor an international student before you enroll or apply for a visa — distinct from general accreditation in Section 2.
Australia — CRICOS (visa-sponsor lookup)
What: The same register as Section 2, listed again here because the use case is different: confirming a provider can legally enrol a student visa holder, not checking general accreditation.
Australia — Tuition Protection Service
What: Protects international (and some domestic) students if their education provider can't deliver a course — arranges a replacement course or refund. Listed again in Section 5 for its complaint/relocation role.
UK — Register of Licensed Sponsors (Student route)
What: The official, daily-updated list of UK institutions licensed to sponsor Student and Child Student route visas. If a school isn't on this list, it cannot legally sponsor a student visa.
US — SEVP School Search
What: DHS's official tool for confirming a school is SEVP-certified and can issue the I-20 required for an F-1 or M-1 student visa.
Where a student actually goes to complain once the school or platform hasn't resolved it — distinct from the regulators and accreditation checkers above.
UK — Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA)
What: The designated, free student complaints scheme for higher education providers in England and Wales — the official next step once a university's own complaints process is exhausted.
Australia — Tuition Protection Service
What: Same body as Section 4, listed again here because it also handles the complaint and relocation process when a provider closes or fails to deliver — not a duplicate, a second function of the same service.
UK — Financial Ombudsman Service
What: Handles disputes over linked or connected credit used to pay for education — for example a course financed through a third-party loan or buy-now-pay-later agreement, where the credit provider shares liability with the school.
US — CFPB complaint portal (student loans)
What: The CFPB's complaint tool, specifically useful for student loan and income share agreement disputes — a different function from the general regulator entry in Section 1.
Turn a qualification or work history into a format employers and institutions across the EU actually recognize — a different use case from the accreditation databases in Section 2.
EU — Europass
What: The EU's official platform for building a CV, documenting skills, and generating recognized digital credentials that are understood consistently across EU member states — a recognition and presentation tool, not an accreditation checker.