Institutional Accreditation
Multi-Location Visit
NMHU's regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), will be visiting the Rio Rancho center and the Santa Fe center on April 16, 2026. This is a standard visit that takes place during the eighth year of the ten-year assessment cycle. The purpose of the multi-location visit is to confirm the continuing effective oversight by the institution of its additional locations.
Focused Visit November 3-4, 2025
New Mexico Highlands University’s regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) came to the Las Vegas campus for a focused visit on Monday, November 3-Tuesday, November 4, 2025. The visiting team evaluated the progress that the university made on two areas of concern listed in the June 26, 2023 Action Letter. The official record of action taken concerning this visit can be seen in the January 16, 2026, Action Letter.
- Assessment of Student Learning (3.E formerly 4.B)
- Use of student outcome data for continuous improvement
- Use of data to demonstrate mastery of learning outcomes
- Resource Base and Sustainability (4.B, formerly 5.B)
- Stabilizing the human resources and payroll departments
- Third-party vendors
- Repeat audit findings
The university has submitted a report on progress made in these areas to the HLC in advance of the visit. To view the full report click here and for the report summary click here.
During the visit, there will be two open forums for faculty and staff to give input on these areas. Please attend as appropriate. The full agenda is available here.
Forum 1: (4B) Assessment Part 1
Day: Monday, November 3, 2025
Time: 9:15 am -10:15 am
Location: Rodgers Administration Building Board Room (107) and Zoom: Link
Description: To get input from faculty on these two findings:
- The institution has made limited progress in assuring faculty and staff are collecting and analyzing data to assess student learning but has not demonstrated that student outcome data is being used for continuous quality improvement.
- The institution needs to use assessment data to show that student demonstrate mastery of the curricular and co-curricular learning outcomes.
Participants: Open forum with faculty (no administrators present)
Forum 2: (5B) Staffing, Training, Turnover
Day: Monday, November 3, 2025
Time: 1:30 pm -2:30 pm
Location: Rodgers Administration Building Board Room (107) and Zoom: Link
Description: Discuss staffing, training for faculty/staff, turnover of faculty/staff
Participants: Open invitation to faculty and staff (no administrators present)
If you have any questions about the visit, please contact April Kent, ajkent@nmhu.edu and Barbara Wharton, biwharton@nmhu.edu.
HLC Institutional Accreditation
The Higher Learning Commission accredits approximately 1,000 colleges and universities in 19 states. HLC is a private, nonprofit regional accrediting agency.
HLC’s mission is to assure and advance the quality of higher learning. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The institutions HLC accredits include public, private not-for-profit, and proprietary institutions at degree levels from the associates through the doctoral degree level and from small, specialized institutions through large research universities.
Faculty, staff, students, parents, and others from the general public with questions regarding HLC’s work should contact the Higher Learning Commission by email at info@hlcommission.org or by phone at 312-263-0456.
Program specific accreditation:
Several specific programs at Highlands University are also accredited by specialized accrediting agencies. Information about these specialized accreditation can be found here: https://www.nmhu.edu/institutional-research/highlands-university-accreditations/