How does UNC ensure the quality of its online courses and programs?
The quality of online courses and programs is extremely important to the faculty and administration of the sixteen campuses of The University of North Carolina. We strive to achieve the highest level of instructional quality and student satisfaction in all our online offerings. Our online offerings adhere to several external standards of quality.
- All sixteen institutions in The University of North Carolina are accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SACS is one of six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the National Board of Education. Earning college credit from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting agency is the surest way to have your college credit recognized and accepted by employers and other universities. SACS has quality standards for distance education programs that all courses and programs affiliated with The University of North Carolina Online must follow.
- Many of our programs and departments are individually accredited by discipline-specific accrediting agencies. We encourage students to inquire of their prospective programs about program-level accreditation.
- The University of North Carolina endorses the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) Principles of Good Practice. A consortium of the K-20 educational systems of the sixteen southeastern states, SREB works with state governments and other stakeholders to improve teaching and learning.
- The UNC Online Quality Workgroup, comprising representatives from all campuses, works in partnership with The UNC Faculty Assembly to continuously update campuses on best practices in online teaching and learning. Through the work of this group, all UNC institutions have documented the processes and policies they use to ensure that online courses are of the highest quality.
