ADNU FIRST TO ACHIEVE PAASCU
INSTITUTIONAL ACCREDITATION

Ateneo de Naga University is the first University nationwide to achieve Institutional Accreditation, beating allthe major Manila-based universities to this distinction.  This singular recognition comes on top of CHED’s earlier conferral of autonomous status of the university, and PAASCU’s Level III status for its key programs. 

It is not only the quality of AdNU’s programs like arts and sciences, business and education that is being recognized here, but the quality of the entire educational institution. 

The achievement was announced at the regular meeting of the PAASCU Board of Trustees on May 25, 2009.  There was a special ovation as AdNU’s instutional accreditation was recognized as a historic first.  Fr. Joel Tabora, President, received the felicitations of the Board Members.

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. It only adopted Institutional Accreditation in  2008.  In particular, to qualify for Institutional Accreditation, the following must be complied with:

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 (re)surveys of its collegiate programs in August 2008, ADNU successfully met each of the specific criteria. Its 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 in fact accredited. All of 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 and implemented through comprehensive and integrated systems, policies and practices that help assure overall effectiveness of university operations along the functions of instruction, research and extension.  Results of program accreditation and other external evaluation processes (e.g., CHED’s selection of Centers of Excellence/Development and Autonomous HEIs) confirm the effectiveness of ADNU’s quality assurance mechanisms.

The next step for AdNU is Level IV accreditation.  To date, this status is enjoyed only by Ateneo de Manila University and De la Salle University (Manila).