The Impact of Accreditation on Student Learning Outcomes

Abstract

In recent years, student outcomes in higher education has captured the interest and concern of accreditation communities, governments, employers as well as international organizations. Student outcomes is becoming the principal gauge of higher education's effectiveness and accreditation bodies expect learning outcomes to be well defined, articulated, assessed, verified, and used as a guide for future improvement. The paper investigates the impact of accreditation on student outcomes in higher education and examines the impact of two accreditation bodies on student outcomes, namely: The National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) established by the Higher Council of Education in Saudi Arabia and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (ABET). Results from a course in Mathematics at Effat University, Jeddah, KSA, showed how important the learning outcome is in the process of re-evaluating strategies and methodologies used in the learning process.