Northwestern will undergo the accreditation process this spring for the first time since 2015. The University has participated in the Higher Learning Commission since 1913.

HLC — one of six institutional accreditors for higher education — works with the University through their Open Pathway process for re-accreditation. The re-accreditation cycle will culminate in a final report detailing NU’s process to reach their learning objectives. 

In the past 10 years, NU has worked to establish and complete a set of learning outcomes that meets HLC’s accreditation criteria regarding learning, teaching and institutional support and integrity. The review process includes submitting annual institutional updates, proposing and implementing improvement projects and hosting an on-site visit. 

University Spokesperson Erin Karter told the Daily that institutional accreditation helps indicate the quality of academic programs and “ensure regulatory compliance and accountability.” Accreditation allows for NU to participate in federal student aid programs. 

“Engaging in the 10-year review cycle through the HLC’s Open Pathway also provides Northwestern with opportunities to reflect on and showcase how we manifest our institution’s commitments to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of our students in a diverse academic community,” Karter said. 

One of HLC’s criteria for accreditation is “Mission and Diversity of Society,” which is in effect until Sept. 1, 2025. HLC provided examples to demonstrate this criteria — many include documentation of efforts toward this mission. 

However, several NU schools recently removed external documentation by taking down mentions of DEI on their websites. The University did not respond to a question on how they plan to document diversity efforts moving forward.  

Chair of the Faculty Senate’s Educational Affairs Committee and Medill Prof. Jacqueline Babb said learning outcomes are goals set at the department, school and institutional level, and the process is facilitated by HLC. 

“You want to make sure that the class learning objectives ladder up to the department learning objectives ladder up to the school learning objectives ladder up to the University learning objectives, so students are learning all the things that they should learn while they’re here,” Babb said. 

Rubrics for assessment are created in a similar way with “ladders” that start with instructors, who create objectives for their classroom, to the University level, Babb added.   

The University appointed faculty and staff to the Assessment and Accreditation Council to facilitate the assessment and review process. The Council is co-chaired by leadership from the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching.

Babb sits on this Council and said the process is very collaborative between faculty, administration and the Searle Center. The final report is co-developed by the Council using documentation submitted by schools and faculty. 

Faculty Senate President and McCormick Prof. Jill Wilson said the purpose of assessment for accreditation is to ensure accountability in hitting goals and to identify areas of improvement. Accreditors do not decide what the curriculum is, but rather evaluate the type of processes in place, she said. 

Individual programs — such as chemistry in Weinberg and mechanical engineering in McCormick — may participate in extra accreditation programs that require more industry-specific review. 

“There’s accountability for these from outside. When you look at rankings, individual programs are ranked,” Wilson said. “Rankings are problematic in their own way, but they still are a signal that people respect the program.”

Departments use various methods of assessment, both qualitative and quantitative, with consultation and guidance from the Searle Center, Wilson said. 

Wilson said measuring assessment can be challenging, and it’s important to consider students’ learning beyond how they perform numerically on an exam. Qualitative assessment, such as how much a student participates in class, is less formally assessed but just as important as quantitative assessment, she added. 

“I really care about what my students are learning broadly — not just how they’re doing on an exam or what score they get on a thing, but are you investing in the process? Are you making progress? Are you learning?” Wilson said. 

Babb said assessment emphasizes progress rather than perfection. She said the process is “meant to evolve over time,” but schools have done a good job of articulating and measuring learning objectives to create a strong argument going into the reaccreditation review. 

HLC’s visit to campus is scheduled for April 28-29 and will offer an opportunity for the review team to speak with administration, faculty, staff and students. HLC will release its verdict a few months later.

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