Criteria for Reaccreditation

The Criteria for Accreditation are organized under five major headings. Each Criterion has three elements: Criterion Statement, Core Components and Subcomponents, and Examples of Evidence. The Criteria Statements define necessary attributes of an institution accredited by the Commission. An institution must be judged to have met each of the Criteria to merit accreditation.

An institution addresses each Core Component and subcomponent as it presents reasonable and representative evidence of meeting a Criterion. The Examples of Evidence illustrate the types of evidence an institution might present in addressing a Core Component. The Criteria are intentionally general so that accreditation decisions focus on the particulars of each institution, rather than on trying to make it fit a pre-established mold.

The newly revised Criteria Statements and Core Components are presented here:

Criterion One: Mission

The institution's mission is clear and articulated publicly; it guides the institution's operations.

Criterion Two: Ethical and Responsible Conduct

The institution acts with integrity; its conduct is ethical and responsible.

Criterion Three: Teaching and Learning-Quality, Resources and Support

The institution provides high quality education, wherever and however its offerings are delivered.

Criterion Four: Teaching and Learning-Evaluation and Improvement

The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning environments, and support servic­es, and evaluates their effective­ness for student learning through processes designed to promote continuous improvement.

Criterion Five: Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness

The institution's resources, structures, and processes are suf­ficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offer­ings, and respond to future chal­lenges and opportunities. The insti­tution plans for the future.