News

Portland State University will welcome to campus a visiting team of college and university faculty and staff members to evaluate PSU for accreditation October 24–26, 2005.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) evaluators will examine financial, academic and student programs, policies and services to determine compliance with regional standards for accreditation of the University. Regional accreditation of postsecondary institutions is a voluntary, non-governmental, self-regulatory process of quality assurance and institutional improvement. Accreditation indicates compliance with the standards of good practice and qualifies PSU to receive government grants and contracts, students to receive financial aid through the U.S. Department of Education, and academic credit to transfer to other institutions. PSU was last visited in 1995 when its accreditation was reaffirmed.

The NWCCU is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as the regional authority on educational quality and institutional effectiveness of higher education institutions in the seven-state Northwest region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. It fulfills its mission by establishing accreditation criteria and evaluation procedures by which institutions are reviewed.

Interested individuals are invited to visit PSU’s Web site to review the self-study portfolio portfolio.pdx.edu/Accreditation_Executive_Summary and to submit comments to the NWCCU. Comments must be received by September 24, 2005, and should be sent to: Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, 8060 165th Avenue, N.E., Suite 100, Redmond, WA 98052-3981.

Portland State University, Oregon's only urban university, is the largest and most diverse in the state system. The University's position in Oregon's economic and cultural center allows for deep community engagement and the creation of partnerships with hundreds of organizations throughout the region— partnerships that give PSU students valuable learning opportunities as they solve real-world problems of business and community. Portland State offers more than 100 undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees, as well as graduate certificates and continuing education programs. PSU serves more students and confers more master's degrees annually than any other Oregon university.

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Source:
Terrel Rhodes (503-725-9010)
PSU Office of Academic Affairs

For Immediate Release (#05-125)