What is “Accreditation?”
Accreditation is a system of peer review that is used to establish that an institution has a mission appropriate to higher education, that it has resources, programs, and services sufficient to accomplish and sustain that mission, that it maintains clearly specified educational objectives that are consistent with its mission and appropriate to the degrees it offers. As part of that process, an institution must also describe how it measures the extent to which it reaches those objectives and show that it responds to these measures to continuously improve its programs.
The University of Texas at El Paso is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral level degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of The University of Texas at El Paso.
What is “Reaffirmation of Accreditation?”
Every ten years, institutions engage in a thorough review of their missions, policies, procedures, and programs to assure that they are in compliance with the principles of accreditation and to reflect about ways in which they can further enhance the student learning environment. The key steps in this process include 1) the development of a Compliance Report; 2) an Off-site Review of that report; 3) the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP); and 4) an On-site Visit from Peer Reviewers, who review and discuss the Compliance Report and the QEP with many campus constituents.
UTEP successfully completed the reaffirmation process in 2016, extending accreditation through the next ten years. Every stakeholder at UTEP played an important role in supporting this process, which included input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members in the Paso del Norte region we proudly serve.
What is “Student Achievement?”
UTEP is committed to fostering student success among all students, especially among young people, working adults, returning students and lifelong learners from socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally under-represented in U.S. higher education. Progress in UTEP’s goals for student success can be demonstrated in each of the performance indicators discussed in the document provided below:
