Annual Reports to the ACCJC
ACCJC Processes for Monitoring Institutional Performance
In accordance with ACCJC’s Policy on Monitoring Institutional Performance and federal regulations, the Commission applies a set of annual monitoring and evaluation approaches to assess an institution’s health, stability, and continued alignment with Standards throughout the seven-year institutional review cycle. The Annual Report and Annual Fiscal Report are the primary data collection tools for this process. Each reporting process is described briefly below.
Annual Reports
The Annual Report collects institutions’ self-reported data to monitor headcount growth or decline (including growth or decline in distance and correspondence education) and institutions’ performance against their self-set standards and stretch goals for key indicators of student achievement over a rolling three-year period. These key indicators include course completion, degree/certificate completion, licensing examination pass rates, job placement rates, and transfers to four-year institutions. ACCJC staff analyze the data in the Annual Report and provides a summary report to the Commission highlighting trends across ACCJC’s membership. Institutions also provide a narrative analysis of their student outcomes data in the Midterm Report, which is due in the fourth year of the review cycle. Together, the Annual Report and Midterm Report provide a framework for ACCJC to ensure colleges are holding themselves accountable for continuous improvement with respect to student achievement in the context of their unique mission and goals.
Annual Fiscal Reports
The Annual Fiscal Report collects institution’s self-reported data to monitor key indicators of fiscal health. As with the Annual Report, the Annual Fiscal Report considers a rolling three-year period; institutions provide data for the most recently concluded fiscal year and two prior fiscal years. ACCJC works with a Fiscal Advisory Team that includes CBOs drawn from its membership to review and score each institution’s annual fiscal report. Scores are based on a Composite Financial Index (CFI) that was developed in partnership with representatives from member institutions. Indicators in the CFI include the primary reserve ratio (i.e., unrestricted fund balance reserve), net operating revenue ratio, surpluses or deficits, salary and benefit percentages, enrollment declines, audit findings, and other financial assessments. Using the CFI, institutions are scored within one of three categories: fiscally healthy, moderate risk, or at-risk.
Institutions that score within the at-risk category are placed on enhanced monitoring by ACCJC. The first and second year of enhanced monitoring are considered Level 1 monitoring, or staff-level monitoring. In Level 1 monitoring, ACCJC staff meet with the institution’s CEO and CBO to discuss the findings. Institutions then send a letter to ACCJC outlining the plans, actions, and/or additional context related to factors that contributed to the low score. As they implement their plans to address the fiscal issues, institutions generally demonstrate an improved scoring on the following year’s annual fiscal report. In the event that an institution scores in the at-risk category for a third consecutive year, they are elevated to Level 2, or Commission-level monitoring. As in Level 1 monitoring, ACCJC staff meet with the institution’s CEO and CBO to discuss the findings, and institutions send a letter to ACCJC outlining the plans, actions, and/or additional context. However, in Level 2 monitoring, the institution’s letter is forwarded to the Commission for review, discussion, and further action (if needed). Consistent with Commission policy, the institution’s CEO has the right to appear before the Commission as the letter is considered should they choose to do so.
General Instructions and Survey Questions
