Willamette University is undergoing our periodic reaccreditation with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Reaccreditation is a comprehensive evaluation of our institution’s mission fulfillment, institutional effectiveness, educational quality, programs, and practices. It involves a thorough review by external peers who assess our compliance with established standards. We have submitted our Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness self-study this summer, and will be hosting an external evaluation team for a site visit in October 2026.
Accreditation is a mechanism for ensuring that educational institutions meet a series of standards that ensure quality in its operations and academic programs. Since the United States has no centralized authority over its postsecondary institutions, accreditation is achieved through institutions’ voluntary participation in membership associations that establish criteria, evaluate institutions on that criteria, and approve institutions that meet that criteria (see NWCCU website, “What is Accreditation?”).
Willamette has both institutional accreditation (through the NWCCU) and specialized accreditation for relevant academic programs. You can read more about Willamette’s various accreditations on our Accreditation website.
All members of the University community are invited to read recent reports submitted to the NWCCU. This includes the Policies, Regulations, and Financial Review (submitted in Fall 2025) and the Evaluation of Institutional Effectiveness self-study (submitted in August 2026).
Additionally, you can participate in our external evaluation site visit. The evaluation team will visit Willamette’s Salem and Portland campuses October 5-7, 2026. As part of this visit, the peer evaluation team will meet with various campus stakeholders and representatives, and will hold three in-person campus fora.
Monday, October 5, 2026
11:00 a.m.–Noon
Alumni Lounge
Who should attend: Any full-time or part-time non-faculty employees
Who should not attend: Executive leadership, students, faculty
Monday, October 5, 2026
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Alumni Lounge
Who should attend: Any Willamette faculty members
Who should not attend: Anyone who supervises faculty, students, and staff
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
11:00 a.m.–Noon
Alumni Lounge
Who should attend: Any student
Who should not attend: Any non-student University employees
The site visit will also include an exit meeting, at which the peer evaluation team provides a summary of its recommendations and findings to the campus community. Faculty, staff, students, and members of the public are invited to attend.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
10:30 a.m.
Alumni Lounge
Note that this is a brief presentation, and there will not be opportunities to ask questions or provide additional feedback.
Campus Fora
The goal of campus fora during an accreditation site visit is to get broad perspectives about Willamette and its fulfillment of the NWCCU Standards of Accreditation. These fora are led by members of the external site visit team. The following sample questions represent the types of questions that may be asked by the team, but team members will develop their own questions to guide their understanding of Willamette.