The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the United States. HLC is as an institutional accreditor, accrediting the institution as a whole.
The University of Illinois Chicago is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Higher Learning Commission uses a 10-year cycle to facilitate the process of reaccrediting universities within its Open Pathway. UIC completed its comprehensive evaluation Spring 2024. This included an on-site visit by a peer review team to verify the claims made within our assurance argument and multi-campus reports submitted to the Commission on February 12, 2024. These reports are available to the UIC campus community via secure login. The HLC peer review team visited the main campus on March 11 and 12, 2024. On March 13, peer reviewers visited the UIC School of Law. During these visit days, the campus community shared information about our innovative programs and initiatives, and our efforts to live our identity and mission as an urban, diverse, public research university. In addition to meeting with various campus stakeholder groups, the site visit team hosted three open forums to meet with faculty, staff, and students.
Preparation for this comprehensive review began Fall 2022 and resulted in UIC’s 2024 “assurance argument” that addresses our compliance with HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation. Additionally, focused teams have worked with our branch campus colleagues to prepare the multicampus reports for Peoria, Rockford, and UIC School of Law. Thank you to the entire campus community for your feedback on the assurance argument draft report last fall and continued collaboration to finalize the multicampus reports this spring. Access the pdf versions of the final reports submitted to the Commission here. Please use the table of contents to navigate the criteria and associated “core components” and subcomponents. Any underlined text indicates there is evidence (pdf files) attached to support claims and guide the HLC reviewers to more in-depth information, as they review this within the HLC Assurance System.
UIC's goals Heading link
We all have a shared interest in UIC providing the best narrative and evidence in support of the university’s continued accreditation. Our goal is to engage the UIC campus through an inclusive, transparent, and collaborative process, that includes the perspectives of all campus stakeholders including faculty, students, staff, administrators, alumni, and community members. You are welcome to familiarize yourself with the university’s comprehensive review preparation.