Every ten years, Miami Dade College undergoes a comprehensive self-study leading to reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The Commission is the recognized institutional accrediting body for institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degrees in eleven southern U.S. states and Latin America. The U.S. Secretary of Education recognizes accreditation by SACSCOC in establishing eligibility of institutions to participate in programs authorized under Title IV of the 1992 Higher Education Act and other federal programs.
Reaffirmation of accreditation results from a thorough and careful evaluation of the educational quality of the institution. The findings of the institutional self-study are compiled and submitted to SACSCOC in a Compliance Certification Report. Based on this report, peer reviewers serving on an Off-Site Reaffirmation Committee evaluate the institution’s compliance with the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation, assessing both the delivery and the outcomes of the educational process. The committee may request additional information, and institutions may respond with a Focused Report.
Institutions also prepare a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) as part of the reaffirmation process. The QEP describes a course of action for enhancing educational quality, developed with the input of a broad base of stakeholders. An On-Site Reaffirmation Committee visits the institution to examine data and conduct interviews in order to evaluate the soundness of the QEP and ascertain whether the institution is in compliance with the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation.
The visiting committee report and the response of the institution to the committee’s findings are reviewed by the Committee on Compliance and Reports, a standing committee of SACSCOC. The Committee on Compliance and Reports recommends action on reaffirmation to the Executive Council, which in turn recommends action to the SACSCOC Board of Trustees. For more information about the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, including the criteria for accreditation, visit the website at http://www.sacscoc.org.
In order to be accredited by SACSCOC, an institution is required to conduct a comprehensive compliance audit before filing the Compliance Certification. The compliance audit includes an assessment of all programs and courses offered by the institution on campus and off campus, and those offered through distance learning. Completion of the Compliance Certification requires three actions by the institution for each of the standards and requirements for accreditation:
- Determining the level of compliance
- Attaching documentation that supports the level of compliance indicated
- Developing a narrative that summarizes, links, and interprets the documentation as it builds a case in support of the level of compliance indicated.
The Compliance Certification, signed by the institution’s chief executive officer and accreditation liaison, attests to the institution’s honest assessment of compliance with the accreditation requirements of SACSCOC as applied to all aspects of the institution.
The SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, adopted by the College Delegate Assembly December 2017, can be viewed online or downloaded from the SACSCOC web site.
All institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) are required to undergo a review for reaffirmation of accreditation every ten years. The documents to be submitted for decennial reaffirmation are the Compliance Certification Report (CCR) and a proposal for a new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).
The Compliance Certification Report consists of four parts:
- Part 1: Signatures Attesting to Compliance
- Part 2: Substantive Changes Reported and Approved Since the Last Reaffirmation
- Part 3: Compliance Certification Report (CCR)
- Part 4: Institutional Summary Form Prepared for SACSCOC Reviews
NOTE: Embedded links in the documents above are disabled.
The CCR presented in Part 3 is the document often called the self-study. In the CCR, the College makes a narrative case for compliance with each of the Standards in The Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement. In the compliance argument for each Standard, the College describes its operational practices, how those practices are appropriate to the College Mission and to accepted practices in higher education, and how they support compliance with the Standard. The narrative is also accompanied by evidence in the form of College policies and procedures, Florida Statutes, State Board of Education Rules, excerpts from the Catalog, website screenshots, supplementary tables and reports, and sample completed forms and documents.
For the 2025 reaffirmation, MDC submitted an application to participate in the Differentiated Review Process. To be selected into the process, the College had to be in good standing with SACSCOC and all other accrediting bodies, and had to demonstrate that it met certain eligibility requirements. The College was accepted into the Differentiated Review Process (DRP), which allowed us to submit a Modified CCR, addressing only a sub-set of the Standards.
| 2024 | |
| March 1 | Compliance Certification Report (CCR) submitted |
| April 23-26 | Off-Site Committee meets to review CCR |
| May 1 | Off-Site Review Compliance Report received |
| June 6-7 | Advisory Visit by Dr. Pat Donat, SACSCOC Vice President |
| August 16 | Focused Report to be submitted |
| August 16 | Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Proposal to be submitted |
| September 23-26 | Site Visit: Campus Tours |
| September 30-October 3 | Site Visit: Compliance/QEP Review |
| 2025 | |
| March 3 | Due date for Follow-Up Report, if required |
| June 9-12 | Review and reaffirmation decision by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees |