Why Is Accreditation Important to Students?

Educational accreditation is a systematic monitoring and evaluation process that determines if an institution meets applicable standards. These standards are important for many reasons. For students, their schools must have accreditation in order for them to receive federal and state grants and loans. Additionally, if a student's employer provides tuition reimbursement, the employer checks to see the employee's school is accredited. The school itself must be accredited in order to receive government funding. Also, some professional fields require that a student attend an accredited institution before allowing them to sit in state licensure examinations for certain professions.

Wilson Under Evaluation

The Middle States team came to Wilson College and evaluated the college according to fourteen standards, which involved our mission statement, goals and objectives, planning and resource allocation, institutional resources, leadership and governance, administration, integrity, assessment, student admissions and retention, student support, faculty, education and assessment of student learning.

More on the Standards Involved

The standards out of compliance were Standard 1, relating to our Mission and Goals, and Standard 14, relating to the Assessment of Student Learning. The Standards of Accreditation, as described on the Middle States website, describes that under Standard 1, "The institution's mission clearly defines its purpose within the context of higher education and indicates whom the institution serves and what it intends to accomplish. The institution's stated goals, consistent with the aspirations and expectations of higher education, clearly specify how the institution will fulfill its mission. The mission and goals are developed and recognized by the institution with the participation of its members and it's governing body and are used to develop and shape its programs and practices and to evaluate its effectiveness."Standard 14 describes, "Assessment of student learning demonstrates that, at graduation, or other appropriate points, the institution's students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional and appropriate higher education goals."