Accreditation

The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

HLC is a national accrediting organization for degree-granting post-secondary institutions in the United States. The University of Nebraska at Kearney has been accredited continuously by HLC (and its forerunner, the North Central Association) since 1916.

HLC accreditation applies to the entire institution. It includes all programs and all locations.

What is accreditation?

Universities are accredited by national accreditors.  These accrediting bodies use the accreditation process to assure that the university:

  1. Stays true to its mission
  2. That it treats its students, faculty, and staff ethically and provides accurate information to everyone
  3. That we monitor the academic rigor and quality of instruction; that faculty have the proper credentials to teach at a college level; that we engage in continuous improvement of our academic programs and the student experience
  4. That we have the resources to provide the opportunity for a quality education

Why should I care?

Accreditation is incredibly important to a university and to its students, for a number of reasons.

  1. If UNK was not accredited, we probably couldn’t enroll students.
  2. If UNK was not accredited, student degrees (if we were able to grant them at all) would be worthless since they would come from an unaccredited institution.
  3. If UNK was not accredited, students couldn’t get federal financial aid, Pell Grants, TRIO grants, or other monetary help for college.
  4. If UNK was not accredited, faculty couldn’t compete for federal grants or contracts – no federal funds available.
  5. UNK is up for its next affirmation of accreditation this fall, and YOU have a big part to play in this affirmation of accreditation.

HLC Reaffirmation of Accreditation

The reaffirmation process consists of four components:

  1. A self-study (assurance argument) which we started on approximately 12 months ago. There are five criteria we have to write to. This was completed in mid-September. View the Assurance Argument.
  2. A federal compliance review to assure that we’re meeting all federal laws, due in Summer 2023.
  3. A student opinion survey. This survey was administered April 3-12, 2023. Often in meetings, they only hear from the best and brightest – a small sample of the student body. The student questionnaire seeks to gain input from the entire student body.
  4. The on-site peer review visit (see below). A team of about 5 people will visit campus. Our on-site visit is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, October 23-24 2023. They’ll arrive Sunday afternoon (October 22) and leave Wednesday (October 25) around noon.

The on-site visit

HLC peer reviewers are chosen because they have experience with campuses like ours. They evaluate us relative to the criteria and mission of our institution. Their goal is to help us improve.

View the Visit Schedule

The team will tell us who they would like to meet with. Typical meetings would include:

  • The executive leadership team (cabinet)
  • Board members
  • Deans and other campus leaders
  • Online education
  • A meeting with students
  • A meeting regarding our Mission – is it well articulated and are we following it?
  • A meeting about Ethical and Responsible Conduct – does the university act with integrity? Is its conduct ethical and responsible?
  • A meeting about Teaching and Learning – do we have people with the right credentials teaching? Are our courses rigorous and appropriate to the level at which they are designated? Do we offer opportunities for professional development?  Are we doing assessment and how are we continuously improving?
  • A meeting about Resources and Planning – do we have the resources (human and financial), structure, and processes sufficient to fulfill our mission, improve the quality of our educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities?
  • A meeting about how we use data to make decisions

Meetings spread out over 2 days.

Important to SHOW UP to appropriate meetings, show the reviewers courtesy, and engage in conversation with them. We need people in seats at these meetings so don’t assume other people will go.

They understand that every campus has things it can work on so if they ask about something a little touchy just be honest. They may have already been alerted to a deficiency either in our self-study or in an earlier meeting and they just may be probing to see how deep the problem is, whether people understand the problem or have plans to fix it, solutions in the works, etc.


Program Accreditation

In addition to the institutional accreditation, many UNK academic programs have sought and been awarded accreditation specific to their degree offerings. Accredited programs meet rigorous standards of academic quality.

These standards include factors such as professional attainments of faculty; quality of research; library holdings; physical facilities; and general funding support for the respective programs. As a result, students can be assured their educational experiences at UNK will meet high standards of quality.

View more information on program-specific accreditation.