2024 Advocacy Agenda

The 2024 Advocacy Agenda provides HLC’s position on higher education issues at the federal and state levels. The agenda is grounded in HLC’s strategic plan, EVOLVE: Equity, Vision, Outcomes, Leadership, Value, and Engagement. The Advocacy Agenda drives HLC input on legislative, executive, and judicial branch issues as they pertain to HLC, accreditation, and higher education.

HLC is recognized by and operates under regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) from the Higher Education Act (HEA), which is authorized by Congress. Therefore, HLC has an interest in addressing HEA issues and the resulting federal regulations for accreditors and the institutions HLC accredits. HLC works toward the realization of EVOLVE, in part, by using this Advocacy Agenda for the improvement and sustainability of a strong system of higher education in the United States.

HLC is committed to fairness, quality, access, and opportunity for all students and maintaining a diversity of missions across institutions.

HLC will advocacy for:

  • A student and institution driven approach to quality assurance of higher education that considers each institution’s mission, stakeholders, history, and context by using measures for the full array of student success outcomes driven by accreditors.
  • Accessibility of higher education opportunities for all types of students.
  • Removing any inequities in legislation or regulations as they are identified.
  • Supporting legislation and funding that enhances minority serving institutions and the physical, mental, and financial well-being of their students.

HLC will drive the course of the changing accreditation landscape and its critical role in the dynamic higher education ecosystem.

HLC will advocate for:

  • The common good through quality assurance of higher education in service to students and member institutions in an equitable, transformative, and trusted way.
  • Student financial aid reform to support innovation and new business development opportunities in accreditation, quality assurance, and higher education that increase quality learning opportunities for students, including those opportunities offered through nontraditional providers and credentials.
  • Flexibility for innovative practices and emerging education models that occur because of external crises, state reductions in funding, or new ways of transforming higher education.
  • Various approaches to differential accreditation with standards attentive to the interests, needs, aspirations, and constraints of the sector in which an institution operates.
  • The development and recognition of reliable practices for the creation and delivery of emerging forms of credentials to ensure that such educational experiences are of high quality and value.

HLC underscores its commitment to quality improvement and outcomes through criteria that call for evidence-based institutional commitment to goals, infrastructure, support services, strategies, assessment, and evaluation to support student learning and success, with an enhanced focus on clarity, transparency, collaboration, innovation, and sensitivity to institutional context.

HLC will advocate for:

  • The exploration of alternative measures of student success appropriate to institutional context and each student’s intent that go beyond categories of enrollment status and degree or certificate seeking found in HEA and improved national data tracking and exchange among agencies and organizations.
  • Quality assurance credibility for student-centric transfer practices that reduce loss of credit, time, and money.
  • The inclusion of non-traditional collaborators in accreditation, such as businesses and non-profit organizations, to provide insight into credentials, including micro-credentials, and their outcomes in the workforce.
  • Improved coordination of the handling of institutional complaints among accreditors, the states, and the U.S. Department of Education.

HLC will be a thought leader in higher education with the goal to restore confidence in higher education.

HLC will advocate for:

  • The need to address key leadership issues and process improvements including those related to student success and institutional effectiveness.
  • State-based reciprocity efforts regarding oversight of institutions providing distance education in more than one state.
  • Additional mechanisms to allow for experimentation by accreditors and institutions to increase quality choices in higher education for students.
  • Approaches that increase postsecondary affordability and reduce debt for students.

HLC will ensure the importance of accreditation and quality assurance for the public and its value as a lifelong return on investment for students in the workforce and society.

HLC will advocate for:

  • A more complete understanding of student success that focuses all stakeholders on the workforce, civic, social, and other benefits of higher education.
  • Students’ interests through HLC’s Ask the Right Questions: A Student Guide to Higher Education and consumer protection policies set forth by HLC and others.
  • The rigor, consistency, and value of the voluntary peer review process.
  • Helpful, clear, and transparent information for students and the public about accreditation and institutions, to ensure integrity before, during, and after the higher education experience.

As an integral part of the higher education ecosystem, HLC sees opportunities for engagement with member institutions, governmental bodies, students, and other stakeholders.

HLC will advocate for:

  • Academic freedom relating to all matters of teaching and learning.
  • Adequate resources to support student learning and outcomes including regular and stable federal and state budget allocations and new funding to support institutions and students during external crises.
  • Expanding and strengthening collaboration across the Triad (the states, the federal government, and other accreditors), K12, and associations to improve access and attainment, outcomes data alignment, oversight efficiencies, definitions of student success/intent, and other areas of shared interest.
  • Civic engagement in higher education and the national dialogue on higher education and its benefits.

Position Statements

HLC works with other members of the higher ed community to add its voice on issues important to you, the membership.

21st Century Distance Education Guidelines  (March 2021)

These guidelines for institutional accreditors reviewing distance education were developed through a partnership among C-RAC, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS).

Free and Open Academic Inquiry and Debate on Our Campuses Is Essential to Our Democracy and National Well-Being  (March 2022)

This statement from 93 organizations asserts higher education institutions’ commitment “to transparent intellectual inquiry and academic excellence, free speech, and civil discourse.” The statement calls on U.S. government institutions to “share and support this commitment.”

Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education About Racism and American History (June 2021)

This statement, signed by 150 organizations, provides “firm opposition to a spate of legislative proposals being introduced across the country that target academic lessons, presentations, and discussions of racism and related issues in American history in schools, colleges and universities. These efforts have taken varied shape in at least 20 states, but often the legislation aims to prohibit or impede the teaching and education of students concerning what are termed ‘divisive concepts.'”

Statement of Principles on Acceptance of Credit  (May 2020)

This statement describes eight principles for managing and evaluating academic credit and assessing student transcripts impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. It was issued by the American Association of Community Colleges, Association of American Universities, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, American Council on Education, and National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Joint Statement on the Transfer and Award of Credit  (May 2020)

This statement offers guidelines and considerations for the development of credit transfer policies. It was issued by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, American Council on Education, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Regional Accreditors Announce Common Framework for Defining and Approving Competency-Based Education Programs  (June 2015)

This joint statement released by C-RAC outlines the criteria that HLC and other accreditors will use in defining and approving competency-based education (CBE) programs.

Related Resource

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