Rowan College at Burlington County is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which is the accreditor for colleges in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Middle States accreditation assures our students and the public of the educational quality of RCBC. Fundamental to providing this assurance is the accreditation process.

RCBC’s re-accreditation process began in September 2017 with the college engaging in a self-study. Throughout the 2017-2018 academic year, 140 members of the college community comprising a cross section of faculty, staff, students and administrators met monthly to answer the Self-Study Design research questions and provide documentation to demonstrate that the college meets MSCHE’s 7 Standards for Accreditation, 15 Requirements of Affiliation, and compliance with Accreditation-Relevant Federal Regulations. Their efforts culminated with the writing and publication of Rowan College at Burlington County’s Self-Study Report 2019.

A team of peer reviewers from community colleges in Maryland and New York visited RCBC from March 24 to 27, 2019 to verify information in the Self-Study Report, meet with internal and external constituents and make a determination about whether the college meets MSCHE’s standards and requirements.

The Report to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees and Students of Rowan College at Burlington County contains the team’s conclusions. RCBC responded accordingly, and received official notification on June 28, 2019, of the Non-Compliance Warning action from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

To address the deficiencies identified by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, RCBC submitted a Monitoring Report that demonstrated the progress made regarding Standards II and VI and Requirement of Affiliation 5. A virtual follow-up team visit took place on March 19, 2020. On July 1, 2020, President Cioce received notification that RCBC’s accreditation was reaffirmed and the college was “now in compliance with Standard II (Ethics and Integrity), Standard VI (Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement), and Requirement of Affiliation 5.”

The Commission required a monitoring report, due March 1, 2021, that demonstrated sustainability of implemented corrective measures from the 2020 monitoring report and evidence of periodic assessment of Standards II and VI.

RCBC’s Monitoring Report Following Reaffirmation was submitted on February 26, 2021. It will be peer-reviewed and a decision regarding next steps for RCBC will be made by the Commissioners at their meeting in late June.