Stepping Up Your Game: Responding to Evolving Regional Accreditation Standards

摘要

Introduction For over 100 years, American institutions of higher education have undergone a voluntary process of quality assurance and improvement through private, nonprofit regional accrediting commissions: Middle States, New England, North Central, Northwest, Southern, and Western. Collectively they evaluate thousands of public and private degree-granting two and four-year colleges and universities. These processes certify an institutions eligibility for federal and state funds, promote the public's confidence in meeting established norms, and facilitate transfer credit between institutions.1 While accrediting standards vary among the commissions, they typically involve an external review cycle that assesses an institution's compliance with the commission's criteria for academic quality and continuous improvement.