Accreditation Levels for Program Accreditation

For the purpose of receiveing benifits, educational programs are classified as candidate and one of four (4) accredited, CHED Memorandum Order No. 1 Series of 2005 (revised Policies and Guidelines on Voluntary Accreditation in Aid of Quality and Excellence in Higher Education) classifies educational programs into:

a. Candidate Status: for programs which have undergone a preliminary survey visit and are certified by the federation/network as being capable of acquiring accredited status within two years.

b. Level I: Accredited Status: for programs which have been granted initial accreditation after a formal survey by the accrediting agency and duly certified by the accreditation federation /network, effective for a period of three years.

c. Level II: Re-accredited Status: for programs which have been re-accredited by the accrediting agency and duly certified by the accreditation federation/network, effective for a period of three or five years based on the appraisal of the accrediting agency.

d. Level III: Re-accredited Status: for programs which have been re-accredited and have met the additional criteria/guidelines set by the federation/network for this level.

Level III re-accredited undergraduate programs must satisfy the first two of the following criteria and two others of the succeeding ones:

i. A reasonably high standard of instruction;

ii. A highly visible community extension program. A description of the programs, the nature and extent of student, faculty and staff involvement, and other details shall be required documentation for this indicator;

iii. A highly visible research tradition. The following must be observable over a reasonable period of time:

• provision for a reasonable budget
• quality of completed outputs
• measurable result such as publication, etc.
• involvement of a significant number of faculty members
• visible, tangible and measurable impact on the community

iv. A strong faculty development tradition evidenced by an appropriate budget allocation and/or systematic plan for faculty development programs.

v. A highly creditable performance of its graduates in licensure examinations over the last three years. (will apply only to those programs where such examinations are required)

vi. Existence of working consortia or linkages with other schools and/or agencies. Documentary evidence shall include a description of the nature, mechanism, working agreements and other details of consortia.

vii. Extensive and functional library and other learning resource facilities.
Level III accredited graduate programs must satisfy i and iii and any two (2) of ii, iv, v, vi and vii above.

The institutions should submit pictorial and documentary evidence to support its claims.

Only programs that have been granted “clean” re-accreditation, meaning that no progress report or interim visit is required within the five-year accreditation period, may apply for Level III status.

e. Level IV accredited Status: accredited programs which are highly respected as very high quality academic programs in the Philippines and with prestige and authority comparable to similar programs in excellent foreign universities.

These programs must have met the following additional criteria/guidelines:

Excellent outcomes in -

• Research as seen in the number, scope and impact of scholarly publications in refereed national and international journals;
• Teaching and learning as proven in excellent performance of graduates and continuing assessment of student achievement;
• Community service and the impact of contributions to the economic and social upliftment, on both regional and national levels.
• Evidence of international linkages and consortia;
• Well developed planning processes which support quality assurance mechanisms.

HEIs should provide adequate documentation in support of application for Level IV accredited status.