What is Institutional Accreditation

Accreditation is a mark of quality for an academic program or institution. Our accreditor is the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). You can think of accreditation as a badge of honor that confirms Minnesota State University, Mankato offers high quality educational experiences and support services to students.

Standards of Quality

HLC uses four standards of quality that determine whether an institution merits accreditation.

Criterion 1: Mission.
How are our operations and educational programs guided by the institution's mission?
Criterion 2: Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct.
How does our institution demonstrate integrity and ethical conduct in fulfilling its mission and serving our students and community?
Criterion 3: Teaching and Learning for Student Success.
In what ways does our institution ensure the quality and effectiveness of its educational programs and support services to promote student success?
Criterion 4: Sustainability: Institutional Effectiveness, Resources and Planning.
How do our resources, structures, and planning processes enable our institution to fulfill its mission and respond to future challenges and opportunities?

Components to a Comprehensive Review

To maintain our accreditation, we are required to participate in a comprehensive review every 10 years. The review has four components:

Write an assurance argument to convince a group of peer reviewers that we meet these standards. And like any persuasive argument, each claim we make about what we do must be supported by evidence that we actually do it.
Submit a federal compliance filing that demonstrates that we adhere to federal (and state) regulations.
Encourage students to complete a survey of their experience at the university administered by HLC. Our survey will be open April 7-16, 2025 (watch for an email).
Host a team of reviewers for a site visit so they can verify the claims in our assurance argument. Our site visit is October 13-14, 2025.

How does institutional accreditation affect you?

Accreditation is a mark of quality that indicates that people can trust who we are and what we do.

Quality Assurance and Public Accountability: Accreditation ensures that a university meets established standards of quality in education, administration, and student services and provides a valuable and effective educational experience. Accreditation holds us accountable to the public, ensuring that we fulfill our mission and responsibly manage our resources.

Student Access to Federal Financial Aid: The U.S. Department of Education authorizes institutions to offer federal financial aid (such as grants, loans, and scholarships), but eligibility requires institutional accreditation. Accreditation helps us attract students who rely on such aid to fund their education.

Transferability of Credits: If students decide to pursue their education elsewhere, their credits are more likely to be recognized by other institutions if we are accredited. Accreditation helps students retain as many credits as possible if they decide to transfer.

Employment Opportunities: Employers often prefer or require degrees from accredited institutions because they can be assured that a graduate's education meets a certain standard. Accreditation helps students to secure jobs and advance in their careers.

Reputation and Credibility: HLC accreditation signals to students, faculty, employers, and the broader community that the institution is committed to maintaining high educational standards. It helps build and maintain the reputation of a university.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance: The Minnesota State Board of Trustees requires all 33 colleges and universities in the system to be accredited. Accreditation ensures that we comply with local, state, and federal regulations, helping them avoid legal and regulatory challenges.

Continuous Improvement: We measure what students are learning and the quality of our programs through assessment and program review. Accreditation encourages us to continuously improve programs, services, and overall operations to maintain their accredited status.

Questions?

Contact Jennifer Veltsos, Assistant Provost for Accreditation, Assessment, and Curriculum Innovation.