Accreditations and Outcomes

Academic Accreditation

Abilene Christian University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. Questions about the accreditation of ACU may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, by calling 404-679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (sacscoc.org).

Many programs have received additional accreditation from the following associations:

• Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND)
• Accreditation Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC)
• Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
• Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP)
• Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International)
• Association of Theological Schools (ATS)
• Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)
• Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE)
• Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education - Online (COAMFTE)
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing (CCNE)
• Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET (Computing Theory concentration of the BS in Computer Science)
• Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA, formerly FIDER)
• Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
• Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (Bachelor of Science in Engineering)
• National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)

In addition, some ACU programs hold approval by state and national associations:

• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
• National Council on Family Relations - Certified Family Life Educator (NCFR/CFLE)
• Texas Education Agency (TEA)
• Texas Board of Nursing

Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes

ACU’s mission to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world creates an environment where you aren’t just acquiring knowledge. You are learning for a purpose.

Your learning prepares you for individual achievements in your jobs and career, research, and chosen pursuits. It also prepares you to contribute to the well-being of others in the organizations with which you work, serve, worship, play, and support. Your learning prepares you to join in your culture and understand others, and most importantly, it shapes your identity.

ACU’s aim through learning in the classroom, hands-on engagement, co-curricular opportunities, and community with students, faculty, and staff is to help you strengthen your perspective on the world in order to help you prepare to choose the paths before you wisely and live with purpose.

Several learning outcomes provide a foundation to equip you. Students who complete an undergraduate degree at ACU will:

1. Communicate clearly.

   Creating and evaluating discourse — spoken and written — are crucial necessities for navigating one’s world. In workplaces, churches, civic gatherings, and social circles, one’s ability to communicate effectively to multiple audiences should be expertly honed and frequently practiced as it contributes to the effectiveness and success of all endeavors.

   ACU offers university students ample opportunities to write in myriad genres, compose and deliver oral presentations with various technologies, and master all forms of rhetoric. Within this general education domain, students will analyze sophisticated texts for persuasive strategies, logical warrants, sound evidence, and ethical integrity. They will also produce both oral and written discourse in an array of formats, including essays and speeches.

2. Examine diverse perspectives.

   The ability to engage in competent discourse, understand interconnectedness of diverse peoples, and interrogate one’s own internal processes is challenging, courageous work; it is essential to ACU’s mission of service and leadership domestically and globally.

   Knowledge of diversity and equity is an excellent partner to the many activities on campus that expose one to difference. These courses address not only the beauty of difference, but history and current relevance of diverse voices, thought, and experiences. Within this general education category, students might encounter diversity particularly in social sciences, arts, humanities, and Biblical studies.
    
3. Gather and use information to address problems.

   Examining, creating, and sharing knowledge forms the very heart of higher education. The world provides neverending streams of discovery through various fields of study, but responsible learners will carefully assess and expertly handle the offerings of the agora. Applying these critical skills to all genres of knowledge positions graduates to innovate and contribute to a better society.

   Although the evaluation, analysis, interpretation, and integration of knowledge is specific to fields of study, students must be provided with a foundational understanding of unique epistemologies. Diverse courses in the sciences, mathematics, and the language arts, together with the on- and off-campus research opportunities often accompanying them provide students with these encounters.

4. Engage Christian approaches to community and the Bible.

   As a faith-based institution, ACU holds the Bible as a foundation of spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is a lifelong practice that includes Bible knowledge, faith practices, and community engagement, as one navigates the world in which one lives, serves, and leads. We seek to lay a moral and ethical foundation to govern problem-solving and decision-making in all areas of our students’ lives.

   Within this general education domain, students will encounter Christian and spiritual education from various perspectives as they work through sacred religious texts and the centuries of scholars who have written about them. As students progress to graduation, each year provides a spiritual focus that is accompanied by relevant offerings in Bible, theology, ethics, ministry, and missions.