Accreditation

UW-Whitewater is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a regional accrediting that ensures educational quality for post-secondary institutions in 19 states. HLC does an in-depth evaluation of our mission, integrity,  quality of instruction,  processes for evaluating and improving teaching and learning, and our overall institutional effectiveness, resources, and planning. HLC accreditation is very important for our campus, impacting things such as how we use our budget, transfer credits, and access to federal funds ---, including student loans.

UW-Whitewater’s last HLC review was in 2015-16. The review was very positive  and resulted in full reaccreditation.

Quality of student learning assessment is one of the key factors considered in the accreditation process.  Throughout our most recent review, the quality of our assessment processes and widespread involvement of faculty, staff, and students from across campus were noted as strengths.

For further details, you may review the HLC’s accreditation process as well as the Final Accreditation Report and the Assurance Argument from the 2015-16 visit, and the  UW-Whitewater HLC 4^th year Assurance Argument.

HLC will again review UW-Whitewater in 2025-26.

In between  10 ^th year reviews, the university provides official updates (see figure below; UW-Whitewater is on HLC’s Open Pathway for accreditation)

Ten-Year Cycle for HLC’s Open Pathway

Program/Unit Accreditation

In addition to university-wide accreditation, several programs or units are also approved by discipline-specific accrediting Bodies. Program-level accrediting agencies provide guidelines for content to cover, the kinds and level of instruction expected, practical experiences students should gain, instructor-to-student ratios, and instructor training and preparation.

Below is a full list of the programs or units and respective review dates.

Current Program and Unit Accreditations