Southwestern is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, a nationally recognized regional accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities has officially reaffirmed Southwestern Oregon Community College’s accreditation following a full review in 2002, again during the Fifth Year Interim Visit in Spring of 2007, and most recently following the Year One Report submitted in March 2011. Copies of the college’s accreditation, self-study reports, approvals, and certifications are available for review by contacting the Accreditation Liaison Officer or requesting to review copies of reports which have been made available at the Library (not all reports are available at the Library at this time), located in Tioga Hall. NWCCU Accreditation status is granted as an institution; any program specialized accreditation or approvals are granted by other agencies.
Southwestern is recognized by multiple agencies for approval and program specialized accreditation. Achieving this status is yet another way to ensure the quality of the individual programs at Southwestern. Click on the Program Accreditation link and then select the links for individual programs to learn more about specialized accreditation for the the Culinary Programs, Early Childhood Education Programs, Emergency Medical Technician Program Approvals, Nursing Program Approvals, Transitional Education Program Approvals and more.
The curricula of programs are approved by the Southwestern Board of Education and then submitted to the Oregon State Board of Education for approval. The programs are subject to periodic evaluation both internally and externally by the state.
Southwestern is committed to a practice of evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of the College. Accreditation and State Standards also require the College to have in place practices to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of all programs and the administrative operations. Measures of Institutional Effectiveness and Outcomes are ways the College demonstrates to the Accreditation agencies, the State, the Board, the students, the Community and the staff achievement related to programs and administrative operations.