University Communications and Marketing

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities reaffirms MSU Billings’ accreditation

University Communications and Marketing, 657-2266

MSU BILLINGS NEWS— Montana State University Billings (MSUB) has recently reaffirmed its accreditation through its regional evaluating agency, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), who praised the university for its commitment and support of students.

MSUB’s mission fulfillment and sustainability were evaluated by NWCCU during a process that began in October 2018. MSU Billings leadership met with the NWCCU in January, where the reaffirmation was made official.

MSU Billings Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Melinda Arnold, commented, “Accreditation is an important time for the university to look inward, revisit our accomplishments, and determine areas for improvement.”

MSUB must go through NWCCU’s accreditation process every seven years and has been accredited with the agency since 1932.

“We appreciate the NWCCU evaluation team’s thorough and fair analysis of our university and progress toward mission fulfillment,” commented MSU Billings Chancellor Dan Edelman. “The NWCCU leadership has also been supportive with MSU Billings’ work on our new strategic plan that continues our focus on putting students first.”

The accreditation team commended MSUB’s faculty and staff’s commitment to students and their perseverance in providing thoughtful, responsive, and innovative services and support throughout periods of instability in university leadership.

In addition, NWCCU praised the Institutional Research Department for providing easily accessible and extensive information that aided in the accreditation process, facilitating decision making and evaluation for the university.

The accreditors recommended that MSUB stabilize the administrative team, evaluate HR processes for proper support of institutional operations, and revisit the university’s mission, core themes, and indicators of achievement.

NWCCU is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the authority on the educational quality and institutional effectiveness of higher education institutions in the Northwest region of the United States, including the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, as well as British Columbia, Canada.

NWCCU recognizes higher education institutions for performance, integrity, and quality, to merit the confidence of the educational community and the public. NWCCU’s accreditation of postsecondary institutions is a voluntary, non-governmental, self-regulatory process of quality assurance and institutional improvement.

Accreditation or pre-accreditation by NWCCU also qualifies institutions and enrolled students for access to Title IV federal funds to support teaching, research, and student financial aid.

MSUB’s next NWCCU evaluation will fall in the spring of 2020.