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What is accreditation?
Accreditation is a voluntary system of self-regulation, carried out by peer-review, in which an institution or program is assessed against a set of standards.
Benefits of Accreditation
- Represents the highest form of accreditation a university can achieve and communicates the value of Western's degrees and certificates to stakeholders, employers and the public.
- Permits Western students to receive federal financial aid.
- Facilitates transfer between institutions.
National Accreditation
Western Washington University is a member institution with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Western Washington University’s accreditation status is Accreditation Reaffirmed. The NWCCU’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status reaffirmation of its accreditation in July 2024. Western Washington University’s next evaluation will be its mid-cycle review in Spring 2027. Western Washington University has been continuously accredited since 1921.
NWCCU is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). NWCCU accredits institutions as a whole, not individual degree programs. Western Washington University does offer some degrees that require accreditation by a specific professional association. A list of those degrees and their accrediting agencies can be found on the Specialized Program Accreditation page.
All questions about institutional accreditation issues should be directed to Western Washington University’s accreditation liaison officer:
Dr. Jack Herring
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
360-650-4900