Guidelines for Institutions and Peer Reviewers

HLC has established guidelines regarding the assurance of academic integrity of dual credit programs and courses at accredited institutions. These guidelines are written to address the scope of regional accreditation with regard to dual credit programs and courses and are linked to HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation.

Peer reviewers visiting institutions that offer dual credit programs and courses will base their reviews on these guidelines. Reviewers will evaluate whether an institution’s dual credit programs and courses are provided consistently with these guidelines.

A Study of State Policy and Quality Assurance Practices

On behalf of the Council of Regional Accreditation Commissions and with support from the Lumina Foundation, HLC has prepared a descriptive review of dual credit (or dual enrollment) practices across the United States. The purpose of the report was to collect information that can serve, among other uses, as the fact-basis for accreditors considering dual credit or enrollment programs at the institutions they accredit.

The study, Dual Credit in U.S. Higher Education: A Study of State Policy and Quality Assurance Practices, was authored by: Victor M. H. Borden, professor of higher education and policy studies at Indiana University Bloomington and senior advisor to Indiana University’s executive vice president for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy; Jason L. Taylor, Research Assistant at the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Eunkyoung Park, Research Analyst at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) in Washington, DC.; and David J. Seiler, History Instructor at Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL.

As a result of the findings of this study, HLC developed formal guidelines for institutions and peer reviewers regarding dual credit programs and courses.