Learn about the Commission’s Pathways Construction Project: A Proposed New Model for Continued Accreditation

Note: The details of this project are frequently evolving as it develops. News and updates will be posted as they become available.

The new model proposes to separate the continued accreditation process as currently carried out through PEAQ into two components: the Assurance Process and the Improvement Process.

The Assurance Process will require the accumulation over time of electronically stored information and data the institution already collects or prepares, together with an Assurance Argument that makes the case that the institution continues to meet the Criteria for Accreditation and the federal requirements.

The Improvement Process will replace the traditional self-study with a "pathway," a Quality Initiative the institution will undertake as something it wants to do, and will culminate in a Results Visit by peer reviewers.

The Commission has drawn out a timeline for how this process will work over a 10 year period.

The Commission has developed a draft snapshot of the proposed process.

A small group of institutions have been selected to participate as pioneer institutions in the Pathways Demonstration Project. The institutions were selected based on a variety of factors, including their timeline for continued accreditation reviews.

InsideHigherEd.com published an informational piece on Pathways about how the project was launched.