THE FIFTH-YEAR INTERIM REPORT:
INFORMATION, FORMS, AND TIMELINES

The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of only a few accrediting commissions that conducts a comprehensive review of its institutions every ten years.  Most accrediting agencies conduct such reviews every 5 to 7 years.  The U.S. Department of Education requires accrediting agencies that it recognizes to monitor its institutions more often to ensure that institutions having access to federal funds continue to meet accreditation standards.  To that end, the Commission has developed a Fifth-Year Interim Report. 

Fifth-Year Interim Report Documents

The Fifth-Year Interim Report is divided into five parts:

Part I.       Signatures Attesting to Integrity (applicable to all institutions)

Part II.      Abbreviated Institutional Summary Form Prepared for Commission Reviews (applicable to all institutions)

Part III.    Abbreviated Compliance Certification (applicable to all institutions)

Part IV.     Additional Report (applicable to select institutions)

Part V.      Impact Report of the Quality Enhancement Plan (applicable to all  institutions previously reviewed under the Principles of Accreditation)

Please refer to the links below to access the following Fifth-Year Interim Report Documents:

• An Overview:  The Fifth-Year Interim Report Review Process

• The Fifth-Year Interim Report
  (Document described above divided into five parts)

• Directions for Completion of Part III of the Fifth-Year Interim Report
  (Document providing guidance to institutions in the completion of Part III, the Abbreviated Compliance Certification)

• Documentation Prepared by the Institution for the Review Committee Examining Off-Campus Sites as Part of a Fifth-Year Interim Report
  (Document used by institutions required to host a committee to review off-campus sites initiated, but not visited, since the institution’s previous reaffirmation.

Institutions with their next scheduled reaffirmation in 2014

(Some institutions in this class were reaffirmed under the Principles of Accreditation; others under the Criteria for Accreditation)

The second reaffirmation class requested to submit the Report is the Reaffirmation Class of 2014 (institutions previously reaffirmed in 2004, some in 2003).  2014 Class, Track A institutions (those with only undergraduate programs), will have their reports due October 15, 2009.  2014 Class, Track B institutions (those with graduate programs), will be informed later this spring and their reports will be due March 15, 2010.

Institutions with their next scheduled reaffirmation in 2015 thru 2018

The timelines for submitting Fifth-Year Interim Reports for institutions last reaffirmed in 2005 thru 2008 can be accessed by clicking onto the timeline below.  The charts are organized by next reaffirmation dates.  If you are unsure as to your institution’s next reaffirmation date, access the Commission’s main menu of its web page, click onto your institution’s state on the main menu page, click onto your institution on the state page, click onto “additional info” on the institution’s page, and look under “next reaffirmation.”