WSCUC Reaffirms Accreditation of Reach University. Commends Collaborative Team & Potential of Apprenticeship Degree
Acknowledging the institution’s “profound change since its inception in 2006,” the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) has reaffirmed Reach University’s accreditation through 2030. Read the Commission’s letter of reaffirmation here and the WSCUC peer review team report here.
We are pleased that WSCUC recognizes the passion and commitment of Reach’s faculty and staff to providing rigorous yet accessible Apprenticeship Degree pathways for working adults. It is their dedicated work that has transformed Reach into a reputable university with more than 2,500 undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates and that has led to this successful accreditation review.
Joe Edelheit Ross, President of Reach University
In addition to commending Reach’s cohesive and collaborative team, WSCUC peer reviewers noted the promise of the job-embedded, Apprenticeship Degree model in solving the nation’s teacher shortage in underserved areas and the National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree (NCAD), which is scaling the Reach model, accessing federal funding, and establishing Reach as a thought leader in higher education and workforce development. WSCUC also commended Reach’s innovative curriculum development and Candidates Services team for providing “tireless support for ensuring candidate success.”
As Reach University continues to grow and mature as a university, WSCUC set out eight recommendations to ensure effective operations and sustainability. These recommendations, many of which are already underway, encompass an updated strategic plan that is integrated with budgeting, enrollment, hiring, and assessment; board development and faculty governance; and strengthening continuous improvement processes to enhance learning outcomes, institutional effectiveness, and retention and learner success. After addressing these recommendations, Reach will schedule a follow-up visit with WSCUC in spring 2027.
Reach recently engaged Bellwether Consulting as a partner in leading an inclusive strategic planning initiative that is rooted in the Reach mission and vision to advance job-embedded, inquiry-based learning for underserved learners will remain foremost so that nobody has to choose between a job and a degree. WSCUC’s recommendations will be central to these planning efforts, which will anchor the next five years of success and growth as Reach scales the Apprenticeship Degree and expands access to job-embedded higher education across the nation. Reach will report its strategic planning progress to WSCUC next April.
About WSCUC and Institutional Accreditation
Accrediting more than 200 institutions, WSCUC is one of the nation’s largest institutional accrediting commissions recognized by the US Department of Education. Accreditation signals to the public that credits and credentials earned at an accredited institution meet high quality standards.
In order for an institution of higher education to distribute federal financial aid, it must be accredited by an agency or commission that is recognized at the national level by the US Department of Education. Most postsecondary institutions will only accept transfer credit from institutions accredited by a USDE-recognized body.
In addition to providing a supportive, peer-reviewed accreditation process, WSCUC also serves as a partner to institutions by providing advocacy, professional development, and frameworks for continuously improving institutional effectiveness, teaching, learning, and student success.
