Institutional Accreditation at UAAThe University of Alaska Anchorage has been continuously accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) since 1974. NWCCU is one of six regional accrediting associations that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to 1974, UAA existed as an extension of the University of Alaska with no separate accreditation status. Since the merger of the University and the Community Colleges that occurred in 1987, this single accreditation status has applied to all campuses of UAA - in Anchorage, and at Kenai, Kodiak and in the Matanuska Susitna Valley. Prince William Sound Community College in Valdez is separately accredited by NWCCU. Institutional accreditation is regularly reviewed and renewed (or "reaffirmed") by the NWCCU. This reaffirmation occurs through regular reports and site visits. In addition to these reports and visits, UAA also communicates regularly with the NWCCU about new programs and changes to institutional leaders and organizational structure. UAA's institutional accreditation was last reaffirmed in early 2012, as a result of an accreditation report in September 2011. This report began a new accreditation cycle that will run from 2011-2017. Prior to this cycle, UAA participated in a pilot project to develop new accreditation standards and processes for the northwest region. This pilot consisted of four reports and two site visits between 2008 and 2010. To learn more about the current 2017 cycle, please visit the Accreditation 2017 page.
UAA was recently approved by the NWCCU to expand our offerings to include awarding doctoral degrees.
For more information about program accreditation (for individual academic programs and colleges), please visit the Program Accreditation page. Please direct all inquiries to: Megan Carlson, Assistant Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer |
Accreditation
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