Criteria for Accreditation

Established by the Higher Learning Commission.

Criterion 1: Mission and Integrity
The organization operates with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission through structures and processes that involve the board, administration, faculty, staff and students.

• Core Component - 1A. The organization’s mission documents are clear and articulate publicly the organization’s commitments.
• Core Component - 1B. In its mission documents, the organization recognizes the diversity of its learners, other constituencies, and the greater society it serves.
• Core Component - 1C. Understanding of and support for the mission pervade the organization
• Core Component - 1D. The organization’s governance and administrative structures promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the organization to fulfill its mission.
• Core Component - 1E. The organization upholds and protects its integrity.

• Core Component - 2A. The organization realistically prepares for a future shaped by multiple societal and economic trends.
• Core Component - 2B. The organization’s resource base supports its educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future.
• Core Component - 2C. The organization’s ongoing evaluation and assessment processes provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness that clearly informs strategies for continuous improvement.
• Core Component - 2D. All levels of planning align with the organization’s mission, thereby enhancing its capacity to fulfill that mission.

• Core Component - 3A. The organization’s goals for student learning outcomes are clearly stated for each educational program and make effective assessment possible.
• Core Component - 3B. The organization values and supports effective teaching.
• Core Component - 3C. The organization creates effective learning environments.
• Core Component - 3D. The organization’s learning resources support student learning and effective teaching.

• Core Component - 4A. The organization demonstrates, through the actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty and staff, that it values a life of learning.
• Core Component - 4B. The organization demonstrates that acquisition of a breadth of knowledge and skills and the exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to its educational programs.
• Core Component - 4C. The organization assesses the usefulness of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global, diverse and technological society.
• Core Component - 4D. The organization provides support to ensure that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover and apply knowledge responsibly.

• Core Component - 5A. The organization learns from the constituencies it serves and analyzes its capacity to serve their needs and expectations.
• Core Component - 5B. The organization has the capacity and the commitment to engage with its identified constituencies and communities.
• Core Component - 5C. The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those constituencies that depend on it for service.
• Core Component - 5D. Internal and external constituencies value the services the organization provides.