New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
New England College is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Inc. (NEASC) through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. NEASC is a voluntary, non-profit, self-governing organization whose primary purpose is the accreditation of educational institutions and to provide public assurance about the educational quality of schools and colleges. NEASC accreditation attests to “substantial compliance with established qualitative standards, integrity in statements to the public describing the institution's program, institutional commitment to improvement, and sufficiency of institutional resources.”1
It is New England College’s priority to maintain these high standards of education and bring continuous educational improvement to all levels of its programming at both the undergraduate and graduate level. To that end, the college has adopted a multi-faceted, disciplined plan—based on the stringent NEASC guidelines and reporting criteria—to bring a systematic and broad-based approach to the assessment of student learning, achieving self-improvement, and fulfilling all its institutional goals.
Every ten years NEC undergoes a comprehensive evaluation against the full array of the Commission's standards and policies for the purpose of reaffirming institutional accreditation, based on their published Standards for Accreditation. The college is visited by NEASC staff to aid in the process of self-discovery and evaluation. In addition, every five years the College is required to complete an interim accreditation report at which time the college participates in a training and orientation to current reporting standards and to prepare for report completion in light of NEASC expectations. At both times, through a variety of mechanisms, the college performs an institutional-wide evaluation and review of its entire curriculum, including electronically-offered degree programs and off-campus programming. Once the evaluation process is complete, a formal written response to NEASC is generated outlining the college’s accomplishments, its most significant issues, and its plans and priorities for future initiatives. The goal of these activities is to improve quality, increase effectiveness, and continually strive for excellence.
The Fifth-Year Interim Report summarizes the College's progress since the NEASC site visit in 2004. The report was submitted to the Commission in January 2009 and was reviewed and accepted at their meeting in March 2009.
NEASC Fifth-Year Interim Report
A copy of the report with its supporting forms and materials is located on reserve at Danforth Library.
New England College has successfully met the Accreditation Standards, which, according to NEASC, demonstrates that NEC:
• has clearly defined purposes appropriate to an institution of
higher learning;
• has assembled and organized the resources necessary to
achieve its purposes;
• is currently achieving its purposes; and
• has the ability to continue to achieve its purposes.
Ultimately, NEC uses the accreditation process as a foundation to effect changes to benefit students, professional staff, parents and community; enable the college to identify strengths and weaknesses; assure students that their needs are being met through a quality educational program; engage the professional staff to impact teaching and learning; provide exposure to new learning trends and innovations; guide decision-making processes; and ensure the College’s mission and expectations permeate into the daily life of it’s community.
The eleven dimensions of institutional quality within the Standards for Accreditation that the college strives to uphold are explained in the NEASC website which can be found at http://cihe.neasc.org/standards_policies/standards/standards_html_version
For more information regarding NEASC or the accreditation process, visit their website at http://www.neasc.org/
Inquiries regarding the accreditation status by NEASC should be directed to the office of the Vice President of Enrollment & Student Engagement, Dr. Hilton Hallock. hhallock@nec.edu
Individuals may also contact:
Commission on the Institutions of Higher Education
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
209 Burlington Road, Bedford, MA 01730-1433
(781) 271-0022; cihe@neasc.org
In addition to NEASC accreditation, the Teacher Education Program, and majors in Elementary Education, Physical Education, Secondary Education, and Special Education are also approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education.
1. NEASC Website
