The mission of the Georgia Accrediting Commission is twofold: (l) to establish standards promoting instruction of high quality for children in Georgia and (2) to encourage schools to meet the established standards. GAC provides an accreditation process designed to establish and uphold standards, to strengthen the quality of education in each school, and to assure its membership and the general public that the established standards are related to the best educational practices.

The GAC serves as a means of ensuring that its membership meets certain standards for
the operation and support of quality school programs in the State of Georgia. Specifically, GAC establishes standards and procedures to carry out the accreditation process. GAC also determines the accreditation status of the educational program of each school and publishes an annual list of schools with accredited programs.  The GAC Executive Director issues certificates for those schools and agencies Provisionally Accredited, Accredited Annually, Accredited, Accredited Fully and Accredited With Quality.

The GAC, an independent agency, is governed by a board of elected educators who have an interest in education in Georgia. Membership of the governing board represents teachers, instructional supervisors, school administrators, Regional Educational Service Agency personnel, Georgia Department of Education personnel, and college personnel who are responsible for the preparation of teachers and other professional educators.