New Federal Compliance Forms for September 2019
Based on feedback from the membership and the Peer Corps and many conversations with representatives from the U.S. Department of Education, HLC has significantly streamlined the Federal Compliance process. The new forms should be used for comprehensive evaluations starting in September 2019.
The new process cuts out redundancies related to areas that are already reviewed as part of the Criteria for Accreditation and highlights the areas where information is required only for Federal Compliance. While the institutional filing is significantly shorter, the Federal Compliance requirements have not changed. Rather, HLC’s manner of examining them has changed.
In addition to updating the process, HLC aspires to integrate Federal Compliance into the Assurance System during the 2019–20 academic year. While the institution will still upload the completed Federal Compliance Filing, there will be a new section for linking to supporting documentation for the purposes of Federal Compliance from the institution's Evidence File. On the peer review side of the Assurance System, the peer reviewers will enter their evaluation report directly into the Assurance System so that the Federal Compliance reviewer and the on-site team chair will have access to the same information and same system interface. HLC will provide more information about these changes as they are made available to institutions and peer reviewers.
HLC will have sessions at the annual conference to answer questions regarding the new Federal Compliance process. HLC will continue to evaluate the efficiency of this process and welcomes your feedback.
Questions? Email the institution’s staff liaison.
