Academic Accreditation

A standardization agency dedicated to enhancing higher education standards across academic institutions worldwide

USHEAB's Academic Accreditation Framework

The United States Higher Education Accreditation Bureau presents a comprehensive academic accreditation framework designed for higher education institutions. Our organization is dedicated to enhancing higher education standards across academic institutions worldwide.

We maintain rigorous evaluation processes that ensure institutions meet the highest standards of educational quality and continuous improvement.

Five Core Accreditation Criteria

Comprehensive five-step evaluation methodology for institutional excellence

01

Mission

The institution's mission and standard of education must be clear and understood by the public. The nature and scope of the institution must be publicly articulated.

  • I. The institution has a widely published mission statement—approved by its governing board—that articulates a purpose appropriate for an institution of higher learning, provides direction for its efforts, and is generally understood by its community.
  • II. The institution defines mission fulfillment in the context of its purpose, characteristics, and expectations. Guided by that definition, it articulates institutional accomplishments or outcomes that represent an acceptable threshold or extent of mission fulfillment.
02

Integrity

The institution operates with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission through structures and processes that involve the board, administration, faculty, staff, and students.

  • I. The institution's governing board consists of individuals with no contractual, employment, or financial interest in the institution. If the institution is owned or controlled by a corporate entity, the board's membership includes representatives of the public. The board delegates day-to-day management of the institution to administration and expects the faculty to oversee academic matters.
  • II. Within the context of its mission, core themes, and values, the institution defines the essential qualities of institutional integrity and supports an environment that ensures these qualities. These qualities include, but are not limited to, student academic freedom, freedom of expression, including the freedom to dissent, an environment that promotes honesty and responsibility, and supports intellectual and academic achievement.
  • III. The institution provides an effective system of internal oversight and control to maintain the integrity of its policies and practices in financial management and procurement; human resources and employment, conflict of interest, accurate information and records, protection of intellectual property, environmental health and safety, and social equity.
  • IV. The institution is committed to academic freedom and independence. Faculty, staff, and students are free to utilize technology and teaching strategies that assist in realizing learning outcomes. Administrative and academic personnel conduct themselves in accordance with principles that encourage scholarly inquiry and public service. They are free of restrictions that could unreasonably hinder their professional activities. The institution protects the intellectual property rights of faculty, staff, and students, and provides guidance on individual and institutional obligations in educational uses of copyrighted materials.
03

Student Learning

The institution provides evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrates it is fulfilling its educational mission.

  • I. The institution's goals for student learning outcomes are clearly stated for each educational program and make effective assessment possible. The institution has sufficient and qualified faculty and support staff to ensure the achievement of expected student learning outcomes and the institution's ability to accomplish its mission. The institution employs qualified instructors who fulfill the activities as described in published documentation.
  • II. The institution values and supports effective teaching. Faculty are evaluated regularly and provided professional development opportunities that are tied to the interests and needs of the department, college, and institution.
  • III. The institution creates effective learning environments. Resources dedicated to the support of teaching and learning include library resources, student services, and support staff, and they are sufficient to achieve the institution's mission and fulfill its educational objectives.
  • IV. The institution's learning resources support student learning and effective teaching. These resources include library holdings that are consistent with and supportive of achieving expected student learning outcomes. Appropriate programs provide students with necessary information and instruction related to research. Technology facilities, software, and support services are convenient, accessible, reliable, safe, and sufficient to support the mission, core themes, and learning outcomes of the institution.
  • V. The institution recognizes a diversity of teaching methodologies and values all modes of delivering education. The institution ensures that wherever students receive credit, learning outcomes are achieved and are comparable to those of other credit-bearing modalities.
04

Application of Knowledge

The institution promotes a life of learning for its faculty, administration, staff, and students by fostering and supporting inquiry, creativity, practice, and social responsibility in ways consistent with its mission.

  • I. The institution demonstrates, through the actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff, that it values a life of learning. Through its policies and practices, the institution contributes to a life of learning for all its constituencies. Faculty and staff benefit from opportunities for continued professional development. Opportunities are available for students to learn beyond their formal coursework through experiential opportunities consistent with institutional mission.
  • II. The institution demonstrates that acquisition of a breadth of knowledge and skills and the exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to its educational programs. Baccalaureate degree programs ensure breadth of knowledge and promote intellectual inquiry. Graduate programs extend competencies in intellectual inquiry beyond those expected at the baccalaureate level.
  • III. The institution assesses the usefulness of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global, diverse, and technological society. Regional, national, and international issues, ideas, trends, and developments are represented in the curriculum to stimulate critical thinking. Global, multicultural, and diverse perspectives are integrated into relevant curricula. Intercultural knowledge and competencies are integrated into educational programs.
  • IV. The institution provides support to ensure that faculty, students, and staff acquire, discover, and apply knowledge responsibly. Individuals conducting research or creative activity adhere to professional and ethical standards and institutional policies. Resources support a safe and effective learning environment. Resources and oversight processes ensure integrity of research practices for human and animal subjects.
05

Resources and Planning

The institution's resources, structures, processes, and planning are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities.

  • I. The institution realistically prepares for a future shaped by multiple societal and economic trends. The institution engages in regular strategic planning and ongoing evaluation processes that examine and respond to the internal and external environment in which the institution operates. Institutional goals or aspirations are internally consistent and support mission fulfillment.
  • II. The institution's resource base supports its educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future. Financial resources are sufficient to sustain institutional vitality and mission fulfillment. Physical resources, including technological infrastructure, facilities, and equipment, are maintained, updated, and replaced, as appropriate. Systematic and integrated planning leads to allocation of resources according to institutional priorities. Contractual agreements and documented processes ensure the integrity of external relationships.
  • III. The institution's ongoing evaluation and assessment processes provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness that clearly informs strategies for continuous improvement. The institution monitors its internal and external environments to identify opportunities, needs, and challenges facing it and its current and prospective students. Comprehensive planning documents guide the institution's evaluation processes. Evaluation of institutional effectiveness is based on outcomes and accomplishments that clearly relate to mission fulfillment.
  • IV. All levels of planning align with the institution's mission, thereby enhancing its capacity to fulfill that mission. Annual operational planning is integrated into and supports institutional planning processes that lead to mission fulfillment. Departments, programs, and administrative units plan and allocate resources in accordance with institutional priorities. Short- and long-range planning guide resource allocation and priorities. Plans are monitored, evaluated, and revised systematically.

USHEAB Accreditation Services

Comprehensive accreditation solutions for educational institutions worldwide

Accreditation for Universities

USHEAB ensures universities maintain international standards of education that align with its Quality Assurance (QA) model.

QA Certified

Accreditation for Institutes

USHEAB values the importance of student enrollment in any institution. Obtaining accreditation status from USHEAB allows students to build their profiles and helps institutions establish their credibility in the academic world.

Credibility Builder

Teamwork & Networking Opportunity

USHEAB, through its wide network of member institutions around the world, facilitates collaborations and partnerships among its accredited academic institutions.

Global Network

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