Our Commitment to Accreditation Standards Ensuring Excellence in Education through Data-Driven Practices

NWCCU Accreditation Standards

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accredits institutions of higher education by applying evidence-informed standards and processes to promote student achievement and success. Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, the NWCCU ensures educational quality, stability, and effectiveness through rigorous evaluation processes. Accreditation from NWCCU signifies that an institution meets or exceeds established standards, promoting student achievement, closing equity gaps, and fostering continuous improvement. This process assures stakeholders of the institution's integrity and commitment to high standards in education.

Read more about the NWCCU Standards

The University of Nevada, Reno, has maintained accreditation with the NWCCU since 1938. Our institution is dedicated to not only meeting but exceeding NWCCU standards, using the accreditation process as a framework for continuous improvement. At the UNR, the Office of Decision Support is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data-informed metrics to support the following standards set forth by the NWCCU:

1.D.2

Consistent with its mission and in the context of and in comparison with regional and national peer institutions, the institution establishes and shares widely a set of indicators for student achievement including, but not limited to, persistence, completion, retention, and postgraduation success. Such indicators of student achievement should be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, first generation college student, and any other institutionally meaningful categories that may help promote student achievement and close barriers to academic excellence and success (equity gaps).

In alignment with its mission and the standards set forth by the NWCCU, the University of Nevada, Reno is dedicated to transparently sharing a comprehensive set of measures for student achievement. These measures, benchmarked against regional and national peer institutions, provide insights into the success of our students and our institution. It is our mission to promote an inclusive and diverse academic environment by providing these metrics diaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and other significant categories. By doing so, the University of Nevada, Reno aims to identify and address barriers to academic excellence, thereby closing equity gaps and enhancing overall student success.

1.D.3

The institution’s disaggregated indicators of student achievement should be widely published and available on the institution’s website. Such disaggregated indicators should be aligned with meaningful, institutionally identified indicators benchmarked against indicators for peer institutions at the regional and national levels and be used for continuous improvement to inform planning, decision making, and allocation of resources.

The University of Nevada, Reno publishes disaggregated measures of student achievement in the Data Den, ensuring that this information is readily available to our campus community. These indicators, aligned with institutionally identified metrics and benchmarked against peer institutions at regional and national levels, are integral to our continuous improvement efforts. By utilizing these data, we inform strategic planning, decision-making processes, and resource allocation, driving initiatives that enhance educational outcomes and support our mission of academic excellence.