M State’s concurrent enrollment program has earned reaccreditation from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP), the nation’s accrediting body for college credit-bearing programs for high school students.
NACEP this week announced the results of its 2023-2024 accreditation review cycle, with M State among 10 colleges and universities in the country to receive reaccreditation. NACEP accreditation denotes the highest standard of excellence in concurrent enrollment programming.
M State’s concurrent enrollment program (CEP) has been NACEP-accredited since 2016. Reaccreditation is valid for the next seven years, through the 2030-2031 school year.
“NACEP accreditation is an assurance of high-quality educational programming for our CEP students, and is a badge of honor for M State,” says Megan Adamczyk, Director of Dual Enrollment and Academic Success at M State. “We strive to make our CEP courses stimulating and inspiring, so students feel engaged in the college experience and are encouraged to keep challenging themselves academically.”
Programs seeking NACEP accreditation or reaccreditation must undergo a strict peer-review process and thorough self-study. They must demonstrate adherence to 16 high standards regarding course quality and rigor, student support, accountability and more. One hundred and thirty-four programs are currently NACEP-accredited, across institutions in 26 states.
“There are thousands of great programs in the nation, but only 134 actually took the step to open up their policies and practices for an independent review,” says NACEP Executive Director Amy Williams. “NACEP-accredited programs are bold, brave, and have committed to ensuring that quality is enshrined in policy and practice. Every student deserves a quality experience in their dual enrollment program.”
During the review process, M State was commended by NACEP for the college’s “investment into CEP,” “passionate leadership,” supportive administration and faculty and complementary high school partners, and M State students were recognized for their knowledge of CEP course offerings and benefits.
CEP courses save students time and money by allowing them to earn high school and college credits simultaneously, at no cost to them. The college credits earned are usually transferable, meaning they can be applied to degree programs at other higher education institutions. At M State, CEP credits are seamlessly transferable within the Minnesota State system’s 33 colleges and universities.
M State partners with 41 high schools in rural west central Minnesota to offer concurrent enrollment programming. The college provides student admission, registration, advising and transcript processing for CEP students from those high schools, in addition to faculty mentors for the high school teachers who lead CEP courses.
Founded in 1985, M State’s CEP has grown and evolved to include a wide range of course offerings, including career and technical courses in accounting, business and health as well as general education options in art, biology, chemistry, communications, economics, English, math, history, physics, political science, psychology, sociology and Spanish. The college serves more than 1,800 CEP students every year, awarding more than 14,000 credits.
About M State
A member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, M State (Minnesota State Community and Technical College) serves more than 10,000 students in credit and non-credit courses each year in over 70 career and liberal arts programs online and in-person at its four campuses in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena. The college also partners with communities to provide workforce development services and other responsive training programs to 500 businesses and thousands of annual participants.