The "Criteria for Accreditation" (1991) and reaffirmation published by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were validated through a survey of alumni. The criteria were developed to assist institutions in evaluating their effectiveness. In all, 2,300 survey instruments were mailed to college alumni in the United States. Of the 1,016 surveys returned, 623 were usable for the validation study. The criteria examined in the 147-item survey included five principal areas of evaluation: (1) institutional purpose; (2) institutional effectiveness; (3) educational program; (4) educational support services; and (5) administrative processes. A pool of questions for each area was written by five college task forces assigned to develop the survey instrument. Factor analysis indicated that the development of the instrument items and the subsequent psychometric analysis does provide a basic survey instrument for assessing the accreditation and reaffirmation criteria. A list of 29 references is included. Appendices contain a sample survey and 147 alumni questions sorted by criteria. Nine tables present study data. (SLD)