Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was awarded the self-accreditation status on 29 April 2010 following an evaluation by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) through the Academic Performance Audit (APA) / Self-Accreditation / Institutional Audit conducted from 8–12 March 2010. The first self-accreditation maintenance audit by MQA was held from 14–17 December 2015.

The Self-Accreditation (PSA) was established with a governance structure directly under the Vice-Chancellor, which is responsible for managing matters related to USM's self-accreditation status, both at the institutional and academic programme levels. PSA is led by Professor Dr. Azura A. Rashid as Director, and assisted by Associate Professor Dr. Mahadi Mohamad as Deputy Director, in ensuring that the implementation of the accreditation system at USM complies with the established standards.