A national accreditation agency has warned Harrisburg Area Community College about deficiencies that could threaten its ability to award financial aid and transferable course credits to students.

But the likelihood of HACC losing its accreditation is remote, according to a spokesman for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

On Nov. 15, the commission issued a warning to HACC that it was not in compliance with three of the commission's 14 standards, mostly involving internal assessments.

HACC fell short on implementing an assessment process to improve the effectiveness of its operations and leadership, according to the commission. It also was cited for lacking sufficient documentation that it was assessing student learning outcomes in all programs, which is aimed at helping to improve teaching and learning.

HACC operates five campuses in a 10-county area and has a total enrollment of about 22,000, including a  campus in Lancaster with about 4,800 students. The college offers nearly 200 associate degree, certificate and diploma programs.

In a statement, HACC President  John Sygielski said, "I am confident that HACC will meet these requirements. The college is — and has been — addressing these issues and already has taken ... steps toward the development and implementation of an organized and sustainable assessment process, including direct measures as required by the commission."

HACC must submit written documentation by Sept. 1, 2013, that it has achieved compliance with the standards. The commission will send a monitoring team to the school within 30 days before considering further action.

While the review process plays out, HACC will remain accredited at least through November 2014, Middle States spokesman Richard Pokrass said.

"Chances are very good that they will come back into compliance within a year," he said, pointing out that two of the three standards HACC was cited for  are ones schools are most commonly warned about.

"Although a warning can be viewed by many as a serious matter, most institutions come back into compliance within 12 to 18 months," Pokrass said.

The commission "very, very rarely" removes a school's accreditation, he said. In the past four years, only two of 527 schools lost their accreditation, Pokrass said.

A warning is the first step in the process, followed by probation and a period known as "show cause" before the commission can act to remove accreditation, according to Pokrass.

The warning to HACC was issued during the college's periodic review, which covers the years 2007 to 2012. The review is conducted five years after an institution has received its 10-year accreditation.

Accreditation is a means of self-regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community that indicates a college or university meets established standards.

Accreditation status can affect a school's ability to participate in the federal financial aid program and to award credits that are transferable at other institutions.
Staff writer Enelly Betancourt contributed to this report.
bwallace@lnpnews.com