Middle States Reaccreditation Process Advances at Rutgers

University welcomes liaison to address Rutgers community on March 31

Rutgers University is seeking reaccreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) – a multiyear process that assures the quality of education offered by higher education institutions and is required for students to be eligible to receive federal student aid.

Planning for reaccreditation began in 2023 and is led by a 25-member steering committee with members from across the university. Along with seven working groups, the committee will draft a Self-Study Report that reflects how the university is meeting the commission’s standards for accreditation and requirements of affiliation, which are designed to assure students and the public of excellence in higher education.

The working groups comprise over 100 staff, faculty, and students, representing all chancellor-led units and universitywide offices. The working groups worked together to draft the “Self-Study Design” document that was sent to MSCHE in February 2025.

The steering committee was appointed in the summer of 2024 by President Jonathan Holloway and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prabhas Moghe. Members of the steering committee will be working with stakeholders throughout the university during the self-study process to ensure that there are opportunities for all members of the Rutgers community to be engaged.

As part of the in-depth process, on March 31 Rutgers will host MSCHE Vice President Liaison Tiffany Lee, who will meet with members of the Board of Governors, the Board of Trustees and university leadership and provide feedback on the university’s plan for the self-study. Lee also will provide an in-person presentation in Winants Hall in New Brunswick from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  to those involved in drafting the plan and via Zoom to the full Rutgers community on why accreditation is important to all.

You can register to attend the virtual presentation here.

“We encourage all of our community members to attend the session to learn why accreditation is vital for Rutgers, our students, faculty and all of our community members,” said Michele Moser Deegan, associate vice president for academic assessment and accreditation and accreditation liaison officer in University Academic Affairs and a co-chair of the steering committee. “Through peer review, assessment and evaluation, the accreditation process verifies the quality of a Rutgers education and our ongoing efforts to continuously improve and innovate.”

Rutgers last completed the comprehensive review in 2018 and was reaccredited by the commission, a voluntary, nongovernmental, peer-based membership association dedicated to promoting standards of excellence and improvement.

The university was initially accredited by MSCHE in 1921. The most recent process will culminate in an accreditation team site visit in early spring 2027.

One of six accrediting agencies of four-year institutions of higher education in the United States, MSCHE is the regional accreditation authority, historically, for the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

In fall 2025, the working groups will begin the university’s self-study and prepare the final Self-Study Report; a draft will be completed in spring 2026, when members of the community will have the opportunity to view and comment on it.

In fall 2026, the chair of the commission’s evaluation team will come to Rutgers to plan for the spring 2027 site visit. That’s when the commission’s 6- to 7-member evaluation team will visit all four chancellor-led units and several additional Rutgers locations. The team members are volunteer peer evaluators who are faculty and staff from accredited institutions of higher education. The team will meet with members of the Rutgers community and provide a written report to the steering committee.

In summer 2027, the commission will meet to approve reaccreditation. Following the 2027 reaccreditation team site visit and decision, the university will next be considered for reaccreditation in 2035.

For more information, visit the MSCHE Accreditation website. In addition, you can provide feedback to the MSCHE self-study steering committee through this form.