Accreditation Cycle and Process

NIU's HLC Open Pathway Timeline

The open pathway supports the pursuit of innovative or strategic improvement projects, known as quality initiatives. Institutions on the open pathway typically undergo a virtual assurance review in year 4. All institutions on the open pathway complete a quality initiative on a topic of their choice during years 5–9 and undergo a comprehensive evaluation in year 10.

Years 1-3: Prepare Interim Monitoring Report and Prepare Assurance Filing Year 4: Assurance Review Years 5-9: Open Quality Initiative Year 10: Assurance Review + Site Visit
2024-2027 June 2028 2028-2033 2033-2034
  • Write and submit interim monitoring report
  • Collect evidence
  • Write assurance argument
  • Submit assurance argument and evidence file
  • Conduce assurance review - no site visit
  • Submit open quality initiative (QI) Proposal
  • Implement QI
  • Report QI results to HLC
  • Multi-location site visit
  • Collect evidence
  • Write assurance argument
  • Submit assurance argument, federal compliance materials and evidence file
  • Conduct comprehensive evaluation with site visit

Contact Us

Accreditation, Assessment and Evaluation
Williston Hall 301
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-5629
aae@niu.edu