Middle States Commission on Higher Education Reaffirms HACC's Accreditation Through 2026

HARRISBURG, Pa. – HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, received notification on June 21, 2018, that the Middle States Commission for Higher Education fully reaffirmed the College’s accreditation through 2026. 
 
“We are delighted with and energized by the Middle States Commission’s reaccreditation of HACC,” said HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D. “Through strong leadership, continuous improvement of our high-quality programs and attention to our students’ success, we look forward to changing lives and strengthening our community for years to come.”
 
As part of the reaccreditation process, HACC developed a self-study that highlighted recent accomplishments, including:

• Revision of the College’s Journey to Excellence Strategic plan to emphasize inclusion and diversity
• Restructuring of the Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division to meet HACC’s high-quality educational expectations and industry workforce needs
• Development of new degree requirements designed to increase on-time completion of degree programs, better support workforce needs and facilitate transfer of credits to a four-year college or university
• Expansion of First-Year Seminar coursework to improve students’ success at the College
• Revision to academic advising services, including self-guided pre-advising online tools and student success coaches
• Expansion of Virtual Learning offerings, resulting in increased enrollment in online classes and programs
• Revision of general education from a course-based approach to an outcomes-based approach with the newly approved outcomes mapped to every associate degree program

A team of evaluators from the Middle States Commission visited HACC between March 18-21, 2018, to assess HACC’s compliance with the Middle States Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation. The Standards include 1) mission and goals; 2) ethics and integrity; 3) design and delivery of the student experience; 4) support of the student experience; 5) educational effectiveness assessment; 6) planning, resources and institutional improvement; and 7) governance, leadership and administration. 
 
The Commission’s action affirmed our compliance with the standards and commended the College for the quality of the self-study. For a full report, please refer to HACC’s Statement of Accreditation Status on the Middle States website. The College’s next self-study review will occur in 2026–27. 
 
About HACC
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, is the first and largest of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges. HACC offers over 100 career and transfer associate degree, certificate and diploma programs to approximately 19,000 students. Also, the College serves students at its Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York campuses; through virtual learning; and via workforce development and continuing education training. For more information on how HACC is uniquely YOURS, visit hacc.edu. Also, follow us on Twitter (@HACC_info), like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HACC64) and use #HACCNews.