In terms of who accredits UT Austin's computer science program, it would be the same body that accredits their physics program. No one. Computer science, or "so

In terms of who accredits UT Austin's computer science program, it would be the same body that accredits their physics program. No one. Computer science, or "software engineering" is not actually a field of engineering as far as accreditation is concerned and no license is needed (or really even desired) in order to practice computer science or to have a recognized computer science program. You just need to be good. Computer Science is not law, or dentistry, or even civil engineering. There is no accreditation for computer science. This isn't to say that accreditation agencies aren't looking longingly at charging more fees to accredit CS programs, but for a university to try to "accredit" it's CS program, or its Math program, or its Art History program, is just a sign that this is a university desperately in need of more marketing. The only thing accreditation you need is the university-wide accreditation. This is also true for individuals. You do not need a CISSP in order to be an IT security engineer, you don't need an MCP in order to be a sysadmin for Microsoft environments, and generally individuals who attempt to certify themselves with these programs are looked down upon as not being able to demonstrate that they are good. In my experience, in silicon valley it detracts from the resume, although I'd imagine if you are working for a bank or some other company that doesn't really have onsite expertise then stuff like this can help. The one exception would be CISCO, which really has some tough exams and those certifications are not mocked but are respected (although they too, are not required for anything).