Accreditation Status of Merritt College

Merritt College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.

The following documents provide further details about Merritt’s current accreditation status:

Merritt College has completed its comprehensive Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) in support of accreditation reaffirmation. The final ISER and ACCJC letters announcing the Visiting Team can be accessed via the links below:

Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (January, 2021)

Quality Focus Essay

Improvement Plans

ACCJC Letter, Announcement of Team Chair (May, 2020)

ACCJC Letter, Announcement of Visiting Team (November, 2020)

ACCJC Visiting Team Roster

Google Slides of ISER SUMMARY
Part I – Intro
Part 2 – Standard I
Part 3 – Standard II
Part 4 – Standard III
Part 5 – Standard IV

Merritt College 2021 ISER Video Summaries:

IntroductionStandard IStandard IIStandard IIIStandard IV

Accreditation Process

Merritt College maintains accreditation by meeting standards established by the ACCJC. Throughout the continuous six-year accreditation review cycle, the College engages in internal evaluation, external evaluation by its peers, Commission evaluation, and institutional self-improvement. This process results in the publication of several review instruments, including a comprehensive institutional self-evaluation report (ISER), an external evaluation report, and a midterm report, as well as annual reports and annual fiscal reports.  

Merritt College begins a new accreditation cycle in the 2020-2021 academic year.  Teams of faculty, classified staff and administrators have been gathering evidence, drafting an ISER and preparing for a site visit in spring 2021.  The organization of teams and a timeline of the work are shown below.

Merritt College community members can assist the ACCJC in their consideration of Merritt College’s application for reaffirmation of accreditation by submitting comments here: ACCJC Third Party Comments