Why is it so important that one graduate from a college or university which is an accredited.?

I"m not acquainted with wacs, but in the midwest we have to be accredited by the NCA (North Central Accreditation). Essentially, each school course has to be monitored by a curriculum committee, and a various multitude of accreditation standards set by the nca (in my case) and the wasc (in your case). If not, we call those schools "paper mills". They have no standards set or maintained by anyone. They are essentially peices of paper printed off of someone's inkjet printer and stamped to look pretty. I'm going to imagine that you went to a small school, paid a big fee and didn't take a 2400 to 3200 minutes of time per course, plus homework and study.