Accreditation

Oregon Health & Science University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), a regional accrediting body approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Regional accreditation serves as the most important means of assuring the quality of higher education through rigorous peer-review and evaluation. OHSU has maintained continuous accreditation with the Commission, earning reaffirmation of accreditation in its last ten-year full-scale accreditation review in 2005 and five-year interim review in 2010. The next full review is scheduled for spring 2016.

Institutional Accreditation

Institutional accreditation is granted by a regional accrediting agency within a scope of authority approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Institutional accreditation applies to the institution as a whole, not individual programs or units within the institution.

OHSU appointed a Steering Committee to ensure that institutional accreditation requirements are met and to oversee the accreditation process.

Program/Specialized Accreditation

Specialized accreditation of certain professional schools and individual educational programs is granted by a number of national organizations, each representing a professional area such as business, law, engineering, or nursing. Though each of these organizations has its distinctive definitions of eligibility, criteria for accreditation, and operating procedures, accreditation by a specialized accrediting agency is one means of assuring quality of the accredited programs.

Fourteen different specialized accreditors insure the quality of academic programs at OHSU:

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

Accrediting Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)

Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME)

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

Accreditation Review Committee on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA)

Commission of Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE)

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)

Committee of Accreditation of Education Programs for Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP)

Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (CoA-NA)

Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)

Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)