MSCHE November 2023 Commission Meeting News

November 20, 2023

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has made public the accreditation actions from its November 16, 2023, meeting. To see all actions taken, visit the MSCHE Recent Commission Actions page where you can search by state or country.

For information about specific institutions, visit the Commission’s institution directory to access a Statement of Accreditation Status (SAS). The SAS is the official statement about each institution’s current accreditation status and scope of accreditation. The SAS also provides a brief history of the actions taken by the Commission.

The Commission took non-compliance action for the following institutions:

Athabasca University (Probation)

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (Probation)

Clarks Summit University (Probation)

Seminario Evangelico de Puerto Rico (Probation)

Sullivan County Community College (Warning)

Zayed University (Show Cause)

The MSCHE website is currently experiencing technical difficulties. If you experience difficulty viewing the website, revisit the website soon, as functionality will be restored. Thank you for your patience during this time.

Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures

In addition to taking actions on institutions, the Commission voted to approve the Third-Party Providers Policy, which will become effective on January 1, 2024. The policy draft was made available for public comment in October 2023, and all comments were considered during the final revision process. Procedures accompany the policy and have also been finalized with an effective date of January 1, 2024.

The new policy and procedures outline the Commission’s expectations for quality, integrity, transparency, and disclosure for institutions working with third-party providers. Third-party providers are defined within the scope of the Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation (Fourteenth Edition), Evidence Expectations by Standard Guidelines, policies and procedures, and applicable federal regulatory requirements. The policy and procedures describe the relationship between third-party providers and written arrangements, which require approval prior to implementation through the substantive change process. The policy and procedures consolidate expectations that were previously spread out in multiple policy documents, such as Third-Party Providers Guidelines which the Commission has maintained since July 1, 2019. This document, along with Contracts by Accredited and Candidate Institutions for Education-Related Services and International Programs Offered by Accredited Institution will be withdrawn effective January 1, 2024. While some comments received during the open comment period focused on third-party servicers (TPS) as defined by the United States Department of Education, the Commission’s policy and procedure is not intended to reflect the Department’s position regarding TPS.

New Commissioner

The Commission voted to elect Dr. Ola Laniya as a public representative to replace outgoing Commissioner, Michael Collins, who completed his term with the Commission on December 31, 2023. Dr. Laniya serves as Vice President, Integrated Assurance Delivery – Global, for SAP.America Inc.

Annual Institutional Update (AIU) and Data Dashboards

Staff reviewed the 2023 Annual Institutional Update (AIU) Indicators and Metrics at the meeting and highlighted the four categories of student achievement, annual enrollment – FTE, financial health, and federal financial responsibility.

In addition, staff demonstrated data dashboards built using publicly available data collected through the AIU and other monitoring activities. The staff highlighted the future of the dashboards.

Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)

The Commission will no longer pursue recognition with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which reflects a voluntary process that is not required for institutional accrediting agencies in the United States. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education continues to be recognized by the United States Secretary of Education, which is required.

The Commission has been recognized by the Secretary since 1952 as a reliable authority concerning the quality of education or training offered by the institutions of higher education we accredit. Agencies are recognized as authorities on the quality of higher education only when they meet the Department’s regulatory criteria through its recognition process. This allows the Commission to serve as gatekeeper to federal student aid programs under the Higher Education Act (HEA). MSCHE is a Title IV gatekeeper and is a link to federal programs, and institutions access Title IV through MSCHE accreditation.

For more information about accreditation with the United States Department of Education, visit www.ed.gov/accreditation.

Eastwick College Granted MSCHE Candidate Status

Policies and Procedures

The following policies and procedures are additional resources that can help the public understand Commission actions:

Accreditation Actions

Accreditation Review Cycle and Monitoring

Appeals from Adverse Accrediting Actions

Communication in the Accreditation Process

Non-Compliance And Adverse Actions by Status (Choose the institution to download the letter sent to the institution.) (Choose the institution to download the letter sent to the institution.)

Public Disclosures

Show Cause Appearance Before the Commission Prior to Withdrawal of Accreditation

Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation

Teach-Out Plans and Agreements

All of the Commission’s policies and procedures are available on the MSCHE Policies page.