Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members,

I am writing to let you know that, after a thoughtful analysis, which included conversations with many of you last fall, and with the support of the Board of Managers, we have applied to change the College’s accrediting agency from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). While we have enjoyed a positive relationship with colleagues at Middle States, we are drawn to NECHE, particularly for its understanding of and alignment with small liberal arts colleges like ours.  

Accreditation is a critical mechanism for affirming institutional quality. Only accredited schools can receive federal financial aid and federal research grants, and many employers and graduate programs only recognize degrees from accredited institutions.

I want to thank the team of faculty and staff members who helped draft our application report and gather supporting materials to demonstrate that Swarthmore meets NECHE’s accrediting standards. I invite you to read the report [PDF], which provides an impressive overview of the College from multiple perspectives.

With that work now complete, NECHE is sending a team of peer evaluators to campus in early March to discuss our application. As part of their visit, the evaluation team will meet with several individuals and groups and also host open sessions for students, faculty, and staff. We’ll share details about their visit once the schedule is finalized.

Using what they learn from the application report and their campus visit, members of the evaluation team will make a recommendation to NECHE, which will then decide whether to accept our application later this spring.

I want to extend a special thanks to Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Assistant Secretary of the College Robin Huntington Shores, who is guiding this work. It is a complex undertaking with a relatively short timeline, and I am grateful for Robin’s leadership in moving it forward.

Thank you for your attention to this important work. I look forward to sharing more with you as the process unfolds.

My best,

Val Smith
Swarthmore College President
Roy J. and Linda G. Shanker Presidential Chair