Accreditation

Tillamook Bay Community College is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. TBCC has been fully accredited by the NWCCU since September 2013. Regional accreditation is a process of recognizing educational institutions for performance, integrity, and quality that entitles them to the confidence of the educational community and the public. In the United States this recognition is extended largely through nongovernmental, voluntary membership associations that establish accreditation criteria, evaluate institutions against that criteria, and approve institutions that meet the criteria. Institutions accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities are required to examine their own missions, goals, operations, and achievements. The Commission then provides expert analysis by peer evaluators, and, commendations for accomplishments and recommendations for improvement from the accrediting body. Since the accreditation status of an institution is reviewed periodically, institutions are encouraged toward continued self-study and improvement. While accreditation criteria and procedures of regional accrediting agencies differ from region to region, the principles underlying eligibility and levels of expectation are similar in their intent to:

• Foster excellence through the development of criteria and guidelines for assessing educational quality and institutional effectiveness;
• Encourage institutional improvement through continuous self-study and evaluation;
• Ensure the educational community, the general public, and other organizations that an institution has clearly defined and appropriate educational objectives, has established conditions under which their achievement can reasonably be expected, appears in fact to be substantially accomplishing them, and is so organized, staffed, and supported that it can be expected to continue to do so; and
• Provide counsel and assistance to established and developing institutions.

When granted, accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities is not partial. It applies to the entire institution in operation at the time of the most recent comprehensive evaluation. It indicates that the institution as a whole is substantially achieving its mission and that it meets the Commission’s expectations for compliance with the accreditation criteria.

2022 Reaccreditation

In 2021, Tillamook Bay Community College completed a very successful accreditation visit. It was the first reaccreditation visit since obtaining initial independent accreditation back in 2013. TBCC was formally reaccredited for another seven years by the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities at their January 2022 meeting. We invite you to read the 2021 evaluation reports below.