Founding a college is a sequential, multi-year project: a state authorizes you, an accreditor accredits you, and federal student aid comes last — and choosing nonprofit or for-profit changes the whole timeline. This is the sourced map, for new institutions and for adding a program to an existing one.
Start with the three-legged stool, then work the three legs in order. Because rules are set by states and accreditors and change often, each page links out to the agencies, accreditors and federal rules that have the final word.
The sequence, the sector choice, and the money-and-calendar picture.
Work these in order — state authority, then accreditation, then federal aid.
A months-not-years path.