OVERVIEW
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is accredited by the Commission on Higher
Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The University has been
accredited by Middle States since 1921. This accreditation is for the institution as a whole
rather than for a specific academic program or school. Every ten years the University
undertakes a self-study indicating the ways in which it fulfills its mission within the
context of the standards of the Middle States Association. Following the submission of the
self-study, a team of peers, selected by the Commission on Higher Education, conducts a site
visit and then makes a formal set of recommendations concerning the findings of its visit.
This visit is scheduled to occur in March 29 through April 1.
The documents included here are intended to provide information on the self-study, the
process by which it is being conducted, its status, the individuals involved in the
self-study, and the timetable for reaccreditation. As the process evolves over the course of
the self study further updates will be provided. This information will be in addition to that
provided by other campus and University sources such as Focus, The Gleaner, The Observer, and
The Targum.
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, The
Commission on Higher Education, and Institutional Accreditation
The Middle States Association is a non-profit association serving elementary, secondary,
and higher educational institutions through programs of self-study, evaluation, and
accreditation, and other developmental services.
To support these goals, institutions of higher education within the Middle States region joined together in 1919 to form the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, a professional association devoted to educational improvement through accreditation.
Accreditation is the means of self-regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community. The accrediting process is intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of higher education, making it worthy of public confidence and minimizing the scope of external control. The extent to which each educational institution accepts and fulfills the responsibilities inherent in the process is a measure of its concern for freedom and quality in higher education and its commitment to striving for and achieving excellence in its endeavors.
Middle States accreditation is an expression of confidence in an institution's mission and goals, its performance, and its resources. Based upon the results of an institutional self-study and an evaluation by a team of peers and colleagues assigned by the Commission, accreditation attests the judgement of the Commission on Higher Education that an institution has met the following criteria:
- that it is guided by well-defined and appropriate goals;
- that it has established conditions and procedures under which its goals can be realized;
- that it is accomplishing it goals substantially;
- that it is so organized, staffed, and supported that it can be expected to continue to
- accomplish its goals; and
- that it meets the standards of the Middle States Association's Commission on Higher Education.
Return to Institutional
Research and Academic Planning Homepage.
Homepage.