During its June 2014 meeting, the Commission approved a new process for institutions seeking Initial Accreditation by WSCUC.

The new process was developed based on recommendations from the Eligibility Review Committee, the Commission’s Policy and Planning Committee, and WSCUC staff.

Under the new process, it will be possible for an institution to be granted Initial Accreditation after one evaluation team visit if the institution is confirmed by the Commission to be in substantial compliance with the four WSCUC accreditation Standards and related Criteria for Review (CFR).  If an institution is not found to be in substantial compliance after the first visit but is found to be in minimal compliance, Pre-Accreditation, or Candidacy in WSCUC terminology, can be granted for a maximum of five years. Subsequent visits will focus only on areas of non- or minimal compliance.

Although the new process may result in fewer visits for mature institutions, institutions seeking Initial Accreditation should be prepared for more than one visit being required.

The process to achieve Eligibility remains the same as before, but the criteria for Eligibility have been reorganized and reduced in number from 23 to 16.

For a complete explanation of the process, please download the revised document, How to Become Accredited.