Accreditation
Overview
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is one of six regional associations that evaluate and accredit public and private schools, colleges and universities in the United States inside a scope of authority approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Institutional accreditation is important as it signals the quality of instruction as determined by internal and external reviewers and is required to receive federal funding. Accreditation by NWCCU means that OHSU is organized, staffed and supported to merit confidence in the quality and effectiveness in achieving its mission.
Occurring once every ten years, the NWCCU accreditation process includes a self-study report organized around nine standards and critieria of institutional effectiveness. After submitting the self study report, representatives of peer institutions visit the campus to evaluate whether OHSU is achieving its mission.
Institution accreditation by NWCCU applies to OHSU as a whole, not its individual programs or units. This focus distinguishes the institutional process from specialized accreditation of dentistry, medicine, nursing, physician assistant and other programs related to professional practice. For an OHSU program to receive specialized accreditation, the program must be part of an accredited institution.
Note: The Northwest region includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
The Accreditation Process