Century College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Century College was first accredited in 1974 as Lakewood Community College and has been accredited since July 1, 1996 as a comprehensive community and technical college.
In 2005 Century College opted into the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) pathway as the primary means of demonstrating the college’s ongoing achievement of the HLC standards of accreditation. In June 2018, Century College submitted its third AQIP Systems Portfolio, which documents the College’s commitment to continuous quality improvement. Institutions are required to submit Systems Portfolios to provide evidence around planning, implementing, reporting and utilizing data for the various Pathway Categories and Criteria for Accreditation.
In 2019, HLC retired the AQIP pathway. After Century’s 10 comprehensive review in 2018-2019, Century College transitioned off the AQIP Pathway to the Open Pathway as our means of demonstrating our achievement of the Criteria for Accreditation. The Open Pathway follows a 10-year cycle and, like all pathways, is focused on quality assurance and institutional improvement. This pathway is unique in that its improvement component, the Quality Initiative, affords institutions the opportunity to pursue improvement projects that meet their current needs and aspirations.
| 1994 | Century College first accredited as Lakewood Community College |
|---|---|
| 1996 | Century College reaffirmed accreditation as a Comprehensive Community and Technical College |
| 2005 | Century College accepted as an AQIP Pathway Institution |
| July 2019 | Higher Learning Commission reaffirms Century College accreditation |
| Fall 2019 | Century College transitions to the Open Pathway |
Reaffirmation Timeline
| Spring 2023 | Year 4 Assurance Review |
|---|---|
| 2023-2028 | Quality Initiative Project |
| 2028-2029 | Year 10 Comprehensive Review Peer Review Site Visit |
Programmatic Accreditation
Many of Century College’s technical programs have specialized accreditation through their industry-specific accrediting bodies. View program specific accreditation.
Century Quality Improvement Program (CQIP)
In 2013, Century College initiated the Century Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) to build the capacity to continuously improve processes throughout the college geared at improving student success and institutional effectiveness. In 2014 and 2015, several process improvement projects were initiated through CQIP. However, due to a period of leadership transition and employee turnover, CQIP was on hiatus for a time.
In 2019-2020, Century College revived CQIP. A CQIP Steering Work Group was formed. This group oversees and coordinates the work of CQIP and works with a team of trained project managers, lead facilitators, and co-facilitators to help lead the work on the specific process improvement projects. The new structure widens the pool of trained employees to support the process and was designed with an eye toward sustainability over time.
The processes that benefit from CQIP can range from the simple – requiring only one department and few steps – to very large complex processes – involving many departments, campus stakeholders and requiring multiple steps. Some examples of processes are: students registering to graduate; submitting a facilities project request; the College budget process, etc. Please visit the CQIP site for more information.