Hudson County Community College Achieves Full Reaccreditation from Middle States Commission on Higher Education
July 8, 2019
July 8, 2019, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) President Dr. Chris Reber announced today that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has formally notified the College of its full reaccreditation through 2027-28.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation activities for institutions of higher education in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Institutional accreditation is required in order to provide federal financial aid for students. MSCHE is also recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to accredit degree-granting institutions that offer one or more post-secondary educational programs of at least one academic year in length.
Through its accreditation process, MSCHE mandates that its members meet rigorous and comprehensive standards for excellence. Reaccreditation status was conferred to HCCC after an intensive process that engaged students, community members, alumni, Trustees, administration, faculty, and staff, beginning in September 2016 with the initiation of the College’s Self-Study. The Self-Study analyzed and evaluated all areas of the College’s operations with respect to Middle States Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation: mission and goals; ethics and integrity; design and delivery of the student learning experience; support of the student experience; educational effectiveness assessment; planning, resources, and institutional improvement; and governance, leadership and administration.
A preliminary site visit by the Chair of the Middle States Peer Review Team, Montgomery College (MD) President Dr. DeRionne Pollard, engaged College-wide constituencies in November 2018. The feedback provided from that visit was incorporated into the comprehensive Self-Study Report, a document of over 4,000 pages including evidence and appendices, which was then submitted to the Peer Review Team.
The seven-person Peer Review Team visited HCCC March 31 through April 3, 2019, and verified data and other evidence included in the HCCC Self-Study. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education subsequently affirmed that the College is meeting Middle States’ expectations for excellence and is reaccredited for a full eight years.
In its evaluation overview, the Peer Review Team reported:
The on-site visit confirmed that the (HCCC) community has palpable enthusiasm, passion, and commitment to fulfilling the institution’s mission, vision and values in the interests of students and community. The HCCC students offered unsolicited testimony that the institution is their first-choice option for pursuing a higher education and that faculty and staff provide unwavering, heartfelt, and holistic support that enables student success and completion.
HCCC serves more than 16,000 full- and part-time students and offers more than 60 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language, STEM, Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management, and Nursing and Allied Health programs. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. Over 94% of HCCC Nursing program graduates passed the NCLEX first time out, placing the program’s graduates in the top tier of two- and four-year nursing programs nationwide. In 2017, the Equality of Opportunity Project ranked HCCC in the top 5% of 2,200 U.S. higher education institutions for social mobility.