Accreditation is the process whereby a professional association or nongovernmental agency grants recognition to a school or program, acknowledging its ability to meet predetermined established criteria or standards. Accreditation includes approval of governance, curriculum, and quality of its faculty, adequacy of facilities, library, equipment, laboratories, and assessment. To assure its stature and academic excellence, a college obtains accreditation from both regional and national agencies and professional organizations and joins certain accrediting organizations.

College Accreditation Agency

The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (HLC)

Pierpont Community & Technical College was recognized as an independent institution and separately and fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in April 2008. Pierpont received reaffirmation and continued accreditation in July 2014. Pierpont will host its next comprehensive evaluation in 2023-2024.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation, which was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. The Higher Learning Commission accredits, and thereby grants membership in the Commission, to degree-granting educational institutions in the North Central region: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.