The Accreditation Initiative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement

The Accreditation Initiative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement promotes the use of the accreditation process and the activities of accrediting commissions to accelerate civic learning for an engaged democracy among all types of postsecondary institutions across the U.S.

Membership: The Accreditation Initiative involves all seven of the formerly regional accrediting commissions. The commissions were early endorsers of the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition (CLDE) Shared Commitment Statement and are active partners in the Coalition.

Initial Topics for Exploration: The CLDE Coalition will work collectively and individually with the accrediting commissions to promote and advance our shared aims. There is a consensus among the commissions that it is important to develop information and profiles of cases and models of good work in civic learning and democracy engagement.

However, since the commissions are separate and autonomous, each will pursue its own programs to promote CLDE aims and agenda. Each Commission has appointed a liaison to work directly with CLDE in developing its initial efforts:

● In June 2023, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) announced revised accreditation standards that include Civic Responsibility as an expected learning outcome. This revised standard, positioned under Student Success, lifts civic responsibility from recommended to expected in its general education framework. Learn more here.

● Since 2020, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) has had, as part of one of its core components, a standard which states, “The institution provides opportunities for civic engagement in a diverse, multicultural society and globally connected world, as appropriate within its mission and for the constituencies it serves.” The HLC continues to add to its publication Providing Evidence, a resource of evidence examples that help institutions demonstrate they meet the standards.

● The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has stated that its “standards align with and strengthen civic learning and engagement and support the work of the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE)” coalition.” MSCHE has mapped the ways in which its standards connect to elements of the CLDE Learning Framework.

● Beyond developing profiles of institutions that are doing strong civic work, the New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE) will host a panel on civic engagement at its annual meeting and consider how CLDE can provide in person development opportunities for various groups.

● The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has suggested developing several “channels of communication” with its institutions about the work of the CLDE and civic literacy and democratic engagement more generally. There has also been some discussion of including in this process issues of how to promote and implement broader changes at the institutional and system levels.

● In June 2023, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) issued a position statement “Committing to the Common Good: Connecting College Learning and Civic Vitality,” endorsing “the importance of higher education’s mission to educate students for informed, engaged citizenship.” SACSCOC will encourage its own institutions to use its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) process to focus on civic literacy and democratic engagement.

● The WASC Senior College & University Commission (WSCUC) has proposed, as part of listing civic-active institutions, that there be more interaction with these institutions about why they pursued civic education and engagement, how it has supported student success, and what kind of results they are seeing.