Accreditation is a voluntary, peer review process. It serves 4 main purposes: (1) to assure quality to the public, (2) to ease student transfer between institutions by signaling quality, (3) provides institutions with access to federal financial aid, and (4) certifies a graduate’s credentials to employers.

An “accredited” university meets the Standards for Accreditation established by an accrediting agency.  The Standards ensure that an institution has appropriate and clear goals, sufficient resources to achieve them, is fulfilling its objectives, and will continue to do so.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ (NEASC) Commission on Institutions of Higher Education accredits HarvardUniversity.  NEASC is one of six regional accrediting organizations in the United States. More information can be found at www.neasc.org.  

Accreditors, such as CIHE, are organizations federally recognized through the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), a bipartisan committee established under the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1992.  NACIQI recognition indicates that an accreditor can adequately determine whether an institution is of sufficient quality to qualify for federal funds for financial aid and other programs.

In addition, CIHE is recognized through the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which has five standards for accreditors: (1) They are required

According to CIHE, accredited institutions are typically reviewed for accreditation every ten years.  That process, called the comprehensive evaluation, begins with the preparation of a self-study, which typically takes 12-18 months to prepare and addresses all of the Standards for Accreditation.  After reading the self-study, a committee consisting of faculty and administrators from similar institutions visits campus to meet with the university president, faculty, students and staff.  The committee provides recommendations to the Commission, which then

CIHE Standards for Accreditation, most recently revised in 2016, examine “institutional quality” in 9 areas, which are:

1. Mission and Purposes
2. Planning and Evaluation
3. Organization and Governance
4. The Academic Program
5. Students
6. Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship
7. Institutional Resources
8. Educational Effectiveness
9. Integrity, Transparency, and Public Disclosure

More detailed information about the Standards for Accreditation can be found on the CIHE

Harvard’s last comprehensive review was in fall 2009 and the University submitted an interim report in fall 2013.  Harvard’s next comprehensive evaluation will occur in fall 2017.  

You can submit questions or comments to oir@harvard.edu.  

In addition, CIHE welcomes public comments, which can be emailed to cihe@neasc.org or mailed to the following address:

Public Comment on HarvardUniversity

Commission on Institutions of Higher Education

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100

Burlington, Massachusetts 01803