Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities was first established in 1917 and was originally part of the Northwest Association of Schools and of Colleges and Universities. Fully recognized by the United States Department of Education, NWCCU has been accrediting schools as a separate organization since 1952. NWCCU accreditation is voluntary to all post secondary schools, colleges and universities within the states governed by the accreditation organization. Located in Redmond, Washington, NWCCU is responsible for accrediting schools in Washington, Alaska, Montano, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Ohio and Oregon.

As an organization the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities first establishes a set of educational guidelines that are considered the standards on which to accredit schools that apply for the process. These standards are available on the NWCCU website at http://www.nwccu.org/. The process is also explained, starting from the basic application and then through the different information that must be collected from the schools accreditation process. This information is used to demonstrate that the school upholds the high educational and professional standards outlined in the guidelines. To research and self-evaluate the accreditation process requires input from students, staff, administrators as well as from members of the community that have a relationship with the educational institute. After this data is all collected, compiled and reported, an on-site accreditation team arrives to conduct their own report and corroborate the information contained in the self-evaluation report. This typically includes direct observation, interviews and feedback from discussion groups or panels.

Once the peer review team has completed their visit, they also prepare a report that goes with the schools report to the commission. The commission then reviews the reports and either proceeds with accreditation or makes requests for corrects or changes. At this point the school may appeal the decision or may work with the NWCCU group to upgrade their standards to meet the accreditation criteria. Schools and programs are reviewed at specific time frames to ensure they are maintaining the standards set by the NWCCU as well as following all changes in the standards based on changing research and trends within both education and programs. The school must commit to a long term, ongoing evaluation of their ability to prepare students for further educational degrees or to enter into the workforce. Since federal funding is based on accreditation, this is an important aspect of ongoing professional development and commitment for most academic, vocational and trade and technical school programs.