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Accreditation is crucial not only for a university’s reputation;
it is also vital to the worth of an institution’s degree.

Accreditation is the process by which an educational institution is evaluated and certified by a federally sanctioned accrediting body.

The University of Montana Western works with three accrediting bodies: the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and the International Association for Collegiate Business Education.

The University of Montana Western’s accreditation self studies and each accrediting body’s final reports are all available through this site.

Montana Western is fully accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The accrediting body, the largest 
in the country, includes 163 colleges in the seven-state region.

According to NWCCU, regional accreditation of postsecondary institutions is a voluntary, non-governmental, self-regulatory process of quality assurance and institutional improvement. It recognizes higher education institutions for performance, integrity, and quality to merit the confidence of the educational community and the public.

Accreditation or preaccreditation by a postsecondary regional accrediting agency qualifies institutions and enrolled students for access to federal funds to support teaching, research, and student financial aid.

Comprehensive Evaluation Committee Report: In accordance with a 10-year comprehensive accreditation review, this report details NWCCU’s findings, commendations and recommendations to UMW based on a university self-study and NWCCU’s 2010 campus visit.
Evaluation Committee Report

UMW 2010 Comprehensive Self-Study: This report, prepared by the UMW Accreditation Steering Committee, gives a general overview of Montana Western and addresses NWCCU’s nine accreditation standards.
Montana Western Self Study

The University of Montana Western Education Department is accredited through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Founded in 1954, NCATE is the teaching profession’s mechanism to help to establish high quality teacher, specialist, and administrator preparation.

According to NCATE, the organization works to make a difference in the quality of teaching, teachers, school specialists and administrators through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges and departments of education.

Both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize NCATE as a professional accrediting body for teacher preparation.

Montana Western’s business and technology program is the first in Montana to receive accreditation through the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

The Business and Technology Department the University of Montana Western has received specialized accreditation for its business programs through the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), located in Olathe, Kan. The business programs in the following degrees are accredited by the IACBE:

  • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
  • Bachelor of Applied Science in Business

According to the IACBE, the accrediting body is committed to a developmental approach to achieving excellence in business education. The IACBE and its members function in a collaborative and cooperative manner and encourage each other toward higher levels of quality in business education.

Since its founding in 1997, the IACBE has grown into a premier professional accreditation body for student-centered colleges and universities, with well over 200 members in the United States and throughout the world.