Institutional Accreditation

The University of Michigan is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

The Higher Learning Commission is an independent agency founded in 1895 and provides institution-level accreditation to degree-granting colleges and universities in the U.S. HLC accredits all three of the University of Michigan’s campuses on varying cycles. They are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

The HLC provides several different pathways to reaccreditation. U-M participates in the Open Pathway process, which takes place in ten-year cycles and includes a mid-cycle assurance review, a late-cycle quality initiative, and a culminating comprehensive evaluation. At the end of each ten-year cycle, a visiting team of peer reviewers appointed by the HLC visits campus.

Institutional accreditation assesses the capacity of an institution to assure its own quality and expects it to produce evidence that it does so.

Higher Learning Commission Guiding Values