HLC requires member institutions to provide annual updates on organizational health through the Institutional Update. The 2023 Institutional Update opened on February 27 in HLC's Canopy system. Submissions are due by April 7.

New This Year

Separate Forms for Financial and Non-financial Information

HLC split the Institutional Update questions into two separate forms:

• Non-financial Form, which includes questions regarding basic institutional information, academic offerings, head counts, locations and branch campuses, and other topics.
• Financial Form, which asks for general financial information and data used to calculate institutional Composite Financial Index ratios.

This new structure accommodates institutions that do not have financial data available until later in the spring due to the structure of their fiscal year calendar. These institutions will be able to submit their non-financial information within the normal reporting period, and receive an extension for their financial data.

Institutions are required to submit both forms in order to complete the Institutional Update.

Note: An institution also may be required to complete the Contact Update or Location and Campus Update forms in Canopy, if it has new information to report in these areas.

Extended Reporting Period

HLC aligned the due date of this year’s Institutional Update with the IPEDS spring collection deadline. This new timeline gives institutions an additional two weeks to complete the Update.

Contact Update

In previous years, institutions have been asked to submit changes to their primary contacts in the Institutional Update. This year, contact changes should be submitted through the separate Contact Update, which was published in Canopy in September. The Contact Update Survey will remain available year-round, so institutions can report changes as soon as they occur.

Superordinate Entity

HLC has added a field to the Institutional Update for institutions to provide the name of their superordinate entity, if applicable. A superordinate entity is an entity that occupies the level immediately above the institution’s governing board in the organizational structure. This field replaces the previous “ownership of the institution” field.

How HLC Uses the Information Submitted in the Institutional Update

Information provided to HLC in the Institutional Update serves multiple purposes.

• Some information is used to update the Statement of Accreditation Status that is posted in HLC’s Directory of Institutions.
• Certain financial and non-financial indicators of organizational health are reviewed to determine whether there are any trends that suggest HLC follow-up.
• Some information is collected and monitored in compliance with federal requirements.
• Student enrollment data are used to calculate HLC membership dues.

Note: Some changes to information in the Institutional Update may require review through HLC’s policies and procedures on substantive change. This may be the case for changes to the institution’s active additional locations or branch campuses, or to its contractual arrangements.

Looking Ahead

In an effort to present a more complete picture of the offerings at member institutions, HLC is exploring the feasibility of collecting information regarding institutional program offerings and publishing them in the Institutional Status and Requirements (ISR) Report. More information about this project will be available in the coming years.