Academic Accreditation

Office of the Provost
Home Office of the Provost»Academic Accreditation

University Accreditation and Authorization

Susquehanna University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 1007 North Orange Street, 4th Floor, MB #166, Wilmington, DE 19801. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Address complaints to:
Complaints
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
1007 North Orange Street
4th Floor, MB #166
Wilmington, DE 19801
Visit the Middle States complaints website for more information.

Susquehanna University was established Sept. 1, 1858 and incorporated by Decree of Court under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on Sept. 24, 1858, as the Missionary Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was renamed by Amendment of its Charter on Feb. 25, 1895, as Susquehanna University of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and further renamed Susquehanna University by Amendment and Restatement of its Articles of Incorporation on July 31, 1998.

All program offerings are authorized by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Postsecondary and Adult Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126. 

Pennsylvania Department of Education
Address student complaints to:
Division of Higher Education, Access, and Equity
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 12th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Phone: (717) 783-8228
Fax: (717) 722-3622
RA-HigherEducation@pa.gov 
Visit the PDE student complaints website for more information.

Program Accreditations and Authorizations

In addition to accreditation of the institution, specific university programs also must meet the standards of “specialized” accreditors:

The Sigmund Weis School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), a specialized accrediting organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Only 5% of 16,000+ business programs worldwide have earned AACSB Accreditation — and of those, only nine private, undergraduate-only programs are AACSB accredited.

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
Address complaints to:
AACSB International
777 South Harbour Island Boulevard, Suite 750
Tampa, Florida 33602 USA
Phone: (813) 769-6500
Fax: (813) 769-6559
Visit the AACSB website for more information.

Chemistry Department degree programs are certified by the American Chemical Society.

American Chemical Society
Address complaints to:
Office of Professional Training
American Chemical Society
1155 16th St.
NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 872-4589
Fax: (202) 872-6066
cpt@acs.org
Visit the ACS website for more information.

Education Department teacher education certificate programs — Biology (7–12), Chemistry (7–12), Citizenship Education (7–12), Earth & Space Science (7–12), English (7–12), English as a Second Language (PK–12), French (PK–12), General Science (7–12), German (PK–12), Grades (PK–4), Mathematics (7–12), Music (PK–12), Physics (7–12), Social Studies (7–12), Spanish (PK–12), Special Education (PK–12)/(PK-8) — are approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Pennsylvania Department of Education
Address complaints to:
Division of Higher Education, Access, and Equity
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 12th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Phone: (717) 783-8228
Fax: (717) 722-3622
RA-HigherEducation@pa.gov
Visit the PDE website for more information.

The Bachelor of Science in Finance degree program is certified by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute.

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute
Address complaints to:
CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program
915 East High Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA 
Fax: (434) 951-5450 
pcenforcement@cfainstitute.org
Visit the CFA Institute website for more information.

Music Department degree programs are accredited by the National Association of School of Music.

National Association of Schools of Music
Address complaints to:
National Association of Schools of Music
11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21
Reston, VA 20190-5248
Phone: (703) 437-0700
Fax: (703) 437-6312
info@arts-accredit.org
Visit the NASM website for more information.

Cooperative Programs

Community College Dual Admission and Transfer Agreements

Susquehanna University is committed to providing an affordable pathway to higher education for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. We have forged strategic partnerships with our regional educational partners to guarantee admission to graduates who wish to complete their bachelor’s degree at Susquehanna. See Susquehanna University articulation agreements with the community colleges here.

Study-abroad Experience Agreement

As an alternative to its established study abroad program, Susquehanna University is partnered with Verto Education to offer a study-abroad experience for students to earn college credits that will transfer seamlessly to Susquehanna. 

Dual-degree and Post-graduate Affiliated Agreements

For students already enrolled at or graduating from Susquehanna, the university has several cooperative education agreements:

Financial Assistance Authorization

  • Approved to participate in the federal Title IV, HEA student assistance programs by the U.S. Department of Education, 7th & D Streets, SW, Washington, DC 20202, including but not limited to:
    • FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1070a et seq.; 34 C.F.R. Part 690.
    • FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1087a et seq.; 34 C.F.R. Part 685.
    • FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1070b et seq.; 34 C.F.R. Part 676.
    • FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2751 et seq.; 34 C.F.R. Part 675.
    • TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR COLLEGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1070g et seq.; 34 C.F.R. Part 686.
  • Approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for veterans and eligible dependents to obtain education benefits through the Veteran’s Administration (VA).
  • Approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in the “Yellow Ribbon” program.
  • Authorized under federal law by the Department of Homeland Security — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-USICE) as an institution certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to enroll non-immigrant students.

Institutional Memberships

Associations with university-wide missions:

 

Joint Statement on the Value of Liberal Education by AAC&U and AAUP

In recent years, the disciplines of the liberal arts, once universally regarded as central to the intellectual life of the university, have been steadily moved to the periphery and increasingly threatened — by some administrators, elected officials, journalists and parents of college-age children. The study of the history of human societies and forms of human expression is now too often construed as frivolous, and several colleges and universities have recently announced the wholesale elimination of liberal arts departments. Politicians have proposed linking tuition to the alleged market value of given majors. Students majoring in literature, art, philosophy and history are routinely considered unemployable in the technology and information economy, despite the fact that employers in that economy strenuously argue that liberal arts majors make great tech-sector workers precisely because they are trained to think critically and creatively, and to adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

The American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges and Universities are not disciplinary organizations, but we believe that institutions of higher education, if they are truly to serve as institutions of higher education, should provide more than narrow vocational training and should seek to enhance students’ capacities for lifelong learning. This is as true of open-access institutions as it is of highly selective elite colleges and universities. The disciplines of the liberal arts — and the overall benefit of a liberal education — are exemplary in this regard, for they foster intellectual curiosity about questions that will never be definitively settled — questions about justice, about community, about politics and culture, about difference in every sense of the word. All college students and not solely a privileged few should have opportunities to address such questions as a critical part of their educational experience. And the disciplines of the liberal arts are central to the ideal of academic freedom, as well, because the liberal arts, by their nature, require free rein to pursue truth wherever it may lead. As a result, they provide an intellectual bulwark for academic freedom.

In their joint 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, the AAUP and AAC&U emphasized that “institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good” and that “the common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.” The free search for truth and its free exposition in the liberal arts are essential components of a functioning democracy. Higher education’s contributions to the common good and to the functioning of our democracy are severely compromised when universities eliminate and diminish the liberal arts.

Source: AAUP Joint Statement with AAC&U on the Liberal Arts (May 2018)