Effective Date of Accreditation Actions

The effective date of any accreditation action will be the date the action was taken unless otherwise stated in these policies or other HLC requirements. 

HLC’s Board may grant initial accreditation, with the contingency noted in this subsection, to an institution that applies for accreditation and is determined by HLC to have met the Criteria for Accreditation but has not yet graduated a class of students in at least one of its degree programs, as required by the Eligibility Requirements. Institutions shall have completed the two-year required minimum candidacy period or received a waiver from HLC’s Board of Trustees. Such action shall be contingent on the institution’s graduation of its first graduating class in at least one of its degree programs within no more than thirty (30) days of the Board’s action. In such cases, the effective date of accreditation will be the date of this graduating class. 

If HLC’s Board takes an adverse action as defined under these policies, the Board shall establish the effective date of such action to be no earlier than the date on which any appeal by the institution is determined to be unsuccessful or, in the event the institution does not appeal, immediately after a conferral of degrees subsequent to the academic term during which the Board takes the adverse action. In establishing the effective date, the Board may also take into account a reasonable period for teach-out as allowed by federal regulations. The Board will take into account any potentially negative impact on current student enrollment prior to determining the effective date of any adverse action.  

Policy History

Last Revised: February 2021 
First Adopted: August 1987 
Revision History: renumbered November 2010, revised February 2012, June 2015, November 2015, November 2019, February 2021 
Notes: Policies combined November 2012 – 1.1(a)1, 1.1(a)2, 1,1(a)3, 1.4, 2013 – 1.1(a)1.2, 1.1(a)1.3, 1.1(a)1.4. In February 2021, references to the Higher Learning Commission as “the Commission” were replaced with the term “HLC.” Policy renumbered in June 2023 (former policy number INST.B.20.030).