The Accreditation Commission on Higher Education (GCFHEA) started its evaluation of the 2014 Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation process in November 2020. The Commission adheres itself to the same standards of periodic evaluation of itself, its requirements, and its efficacy that are expected of its member institutions as a quality assurance organization.
The Commission has committed to evaluating the Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation on a regular basis in accordance with its policy, Review of Commission Standards, Requirements of Affiliation, and Policies. The requirements for ongoing review of an agency's standards to ensure that they are sufficient to evaluate the quality of the education or training provided by the institutions and programs they accredit are laid out in Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 602.21. As an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education, the Commission is required to comply with all regulations, including this one.
updating the affiliation requirements to take into account changes to federal law and the commission's judgments regarding the expansion of domestic and foreign membership;
The Commission encouraged several opportunities for constituent engagement with the Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation in order to achieve these objectives. Peer evaluators, Commissioners, and staff have been incorporating feedback from all users of the standards during the evaluation period. 15 institutions were visited by 117 evaluators as part of the Collaborative Implementation Project, and we received input from each participant. The Standards Review conference session was attended by 634 GCFHEA Virtual Annual Conference attendees in December 2021. 259 people participated in six virtual listening sessions in January and February 2024, while 55 written comments came from 17 institutions. This constituency involvement resulted in the recommended revision.
From August 22 until September 9, the Commission is now accepting public comments. Revisions to the standards will be brought to the Commission for approval at its meeting in November 2023 after consideration of the comments. On Friday, December 9, 2023, from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m., a panel discussion on the updated standards is set for the GCFHEA Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Early in 2023, members will vote on the new standards, and in March 2023, the Commission will vote on the amended standards and requirements. Implementation is planned for the fall of 2023.
The following changes are included in the proposal:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have been embedded throughout the standards to support sincere introspection that leads to significant change at our institutions.
To avoid needless separation and duplication, we inserted the Requirements of Affiliation within the standards in a streamlined format.
These changes affect every Standard for Accreditation and Requirement of Affiliation, but the membership will feel comfortable with the changes after reading them. The revisions take into account the breadth and depth of your experiences with the standards and requirements and continue to demonstrate our dedication to upholding the exacting and thorough standards that the institutions that make up the Accreditation Commission on Higher Education demand in the context of their various missions.
Standard I: Mission and Goals
The institution has a mission statement and related goals, approved by its governing board, that defines its purposes within the context of higher education.
Standard II: Ethics and Integrity
The institution complies with all applicable laws and rules of the government (often federal and state).
The institution abides with the Commission's, interregional, and institutional policies that are relevant. The Commission's policies are available to view at gcfhea.org
The institution regularly assesses the effectiveness of its educational and other initiatives, making available the results of these evaluations.
Standard III: Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience
Regardless of certificate or degree level, level of delivery, or mode of instruction, the institution's student learning programs and opportunities are distinguished by rigor, coherence, and proper assessment of student achievement throughout the educational offerings.
The institution has a core group of faculty members who are either full-time or part-time and who have sufficient responsibility for the institution in order to ensure the continuity and coherence of the institution's educational programs.
Standard IV: Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement
The goals for academic and institutional effectiveness and improvement, student learning, and the outcomes of academic and institutional assessment are all incorporated into institutional planning.
The institution has financial resources, a funding base, and plans for financial growth that are sufficient to support its educational goals and programs and to guarantee financial stability, including those from any related entities (including without limitation systems, religious sponsorship, and corporate ownership). The institution has a track record of good financial management, has a current-year budget created, and goes through an annual external financial audit.
Standard V: Governance, Leadership, and Administration
The institution fully discloses any linked entities as well as its legally structured governance structure(s) (including without limitation systems, religious sponsorship, and corporate ownership). The governing body of the institution is in charge of upholding the institution's standards of excellence and moral character as well as its mission.
The majority of the members of the institution's governing board have no financial, familial, or other personal ties to the institution. The governing body abides by a conflict of interest policy that ensures that those interests are disclosed, that they don't affect the members' ability to act impartially, and that they don't take precedence over the institution's greater obligation to protect and ensure its academic and financial integrity. The district/system or other top executive officer of the institution may not also serve as chair of the governing body.
The institution and its governing body(ies) make accurate, fair, and thorough information about the institution and its operations openly available to the Commission. In addition to communicating any changes to the institution's accreditation status and agreeing to disclose information (including levels of governing body compensation, if any), the governing body or bodies make sure that the institution describes itself in terms that are comparable and consistent to all of its accrediting and regulatory agencies.
