This report addresses how, and to what extent, institutional accreditation might be utilized in lieu of part or all of the State licensing review. During 1989, the State enacted legislation that considerably raised the licensing standards for private postsecondary institutions. These new State standards were used as a basis for examining the practices of 14 regional and national accrediting associations that accredit institutions in California and found that, as a whole, the State's new statutory standards relating to institutional stability, institutional integrity, and consumer protection were more stringent than those required by the accrediting agencies. It was recommended that California not rely directly on regional and national accrediting agencies for maintaining the State's statutory standards. It was recommended instead that the new Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education seek to collaborate only with those accrediting agencies whose policies and resources enable them to cooperate with it in collecting and sharing information and whose record of accrediting California institutions has been found to be satisfactory. The appendix contains Assembly Bill 1993 (1989) and an explanation of the study's methodology. Contains 12 references. (GLR)