Naga Has Country's First University With Institutional Accreditation

NAGA CITY—The only Jesuit learning institution in Bikol region is also the first among all other schools and universities in the country to have institutional accreditation from Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).

Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU) beat all the major Manila-based universities to the accreditation.

The recognition comes after CHED’s conferral of autonomous status to AdNU, and PAASCU’s granting of Level III accreditation for its some of the university’s key programs.

In granting institutional accreditation, PAASCU have recognized all academic programs offered by AdNU.

The accreditation was announced during the regular meeting of the PAASCU Board of Trustees on May 25, 2009.

Institutional Accreditation is a very recent development in the voluntary accreditation movement.

PAASCU has been granting program (e.g., Education, Arts & Sciences, Commerce, etc.) accreditation since 1957 but only adopted institutional accreditation in 2008.

To qualify for institutional accreditation, the following must be complied:

1. The Arts and Sciences, Business and Education programs should have been granted at least Level III status.
2. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the school’s program offerings should be accredited. The accredited programs should have at least Level I status. Programs where there are no existing evaluation instruments and new program offerings that have not graduated at least two batches will not be included in the computation.
3. The performance of graduates in the licensure examinations should be at par with or above the national passing rate for at least three consecutive board examinations.
4. The school should have well-developed internal quality assurance mechanisms.
5. Majority of the total student population should be enrolled in the accredited programs

Having undergone multi-program and multi-level formal surveys of its collegiate programs in August 2008, ADNU met each of the criteria.

AdNU’s degree programs under the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Commerce and Education are Level III re-accredited and overall, 84.38% (54 out of 64) of its accreditation eligible programs are accredited.

Also, its degree programs requiring board exams (Elementary and Secondary Education, Civil Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Nursing, and Accountancy) have established passing percentages which are at par with or higher than the national passing rates.

In terms of population, 76.45% of students are enrolled in the accredited programs.

Over the years, long-term strategic development plans provided the framework for institutional quality assurance mechanisms.

The development plans were implemented through comprehensive and integrated systems and included policies and practices that help assure overall effectiveness of university operations such as instruction, research and extension.

The next step for AdNU is Level IV accreditation. To date, only Ateneo de Manila University and De la Salle University in Manila have Level IV accreditation. (Jonas Cabiles Soltes)