Number: COMM.A.10.030

Scope. HLC, aware of the value of information from the public, shall review complaints regarding a member institution’s ability to meet the Criteria for Accreditation or other HLC requirements in a timely, fair, and equitable manner. The complaint process is intended to address only those matters that suggest substantive non-compliance. As such, HLC generally expects individuals to attempt to resolve personal issues through the institution’s own published grievance procedures for its stakeholders, as appropriate—students, faculty, staff or members of the public—before submitting a complaint to HLC. In no case will HLC complaint process be used to obtain an individual remedy with an institution on behalf of a complainant.

Contents, Presentations, and Processing. HLC will not generally review complaints that concern facts or circumstances that took place more than two years from the date the complaint was received by HLC. All complaints must be submitted according to HLC procedures. HLC will acknowledge a complaint promptly and, within thirty working days of receipt, will advise the complainant whether or not the complaint will be further reviewed by HLC. If HLC determines a complaint will be further reviewed, HLC will give the institution named in the complaint sufficient opportunity to respond to the complaint before HLC completes its review and makes a decision about next steps regarding the complaint.

In accordance with HLC policies and procedures, HLC may require further follow-up.

When HLC receives a complaint(s) about an institution that has an impending site visit and that raises questions about the compliance of the institution with HLC requirements, it may also forward the complaint(s) to the attention of the chair of the on-site team for consideration instead of, or in addition to, any regular review HLC might undertake regarding such complaint(s). The team will notify HLC staff of its findings.

Other Information. In addition to pursuing complaints, HLC may initiate any of the procedures related to complaints in response to any information regarding a member institution’s ability to meet the Criteria or other HLC requirements.

Complaints Against HLC. HLC, aware of the value of information from the public, shall review complaints regarding HLC in a timely, fair, and equitable manner. Complaints regarding HLC must involve issues broader than a concern about a specific institutional action or a specific on-site evaluation and must state clearly the nature of the complaint. The President, on behalf of HLC, shall respond to each complaint made against HLC within 30 days of receipt; report regularly to the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees on the nature and disposition of complaints against HLC; and compile annually a list, available to the public on request, that summarizes the complaints against HLC and their dispositions. HLC retains the right to withhold public disclosure of information regarding complaints if, in HLC’s discretion, circumstances warrant.

Policy History

Last Revised: November 2020
First Adopted: August 1996, February 1996, June 2004
Revision History: February 1998, May 2002, October 2002, June 2008, February 2010, June 2012, November 2012, November 2019, November 2020
Notes: Policies combined in November 2012 – 13.1, 13.1(a), 13.1(b), 13.1(c), 13.2. In February 2021, references to the Higher Learning Commission as “the Commission” were replaced with the term “HLC.”