Bob Jones University Granted National Accreditation
Greenville, S.C., November 8, 2006 — Meeting in Nashville, Tenn., the 16-member accrediting commission of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools yesterday voted unanimously to grant institutional accreditation to Bob Jones University.
TRACS is a national accreditation body offering institutional accreditation to Christian colleges, universities and seminaries. It is recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and is a member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education.
"Attaining accreditation is a stamp of approval on our curriculum, faculty, student services and facilities," says Dr. Gary Weier, BJU Vice President for Administration whose responsibilities include oversight of the University's academic program. "It also verifies that we have the processes in place to sustain academic program quality and to achieve our institutional mission and goals."
"Accreditation will make it easier for our graduates to gain acceptance at graduate schools that require an accredited undergraduate degree and to achieve employment at companies and government agencies that require degrees from accredited institutions," says Weier. "It could also help our students transfer credits to other institutions."
"TRACS grants accreditation solely to Christian colleges and universities," says BJU president, Dr. Stephen Jones. "Accreditation under TRACS will enable our graduates to realize the benefits of accreditation without compromise to the University's Bible-based philosophy and practices. We waited many years to seek accreditation," says Jones, "and went forward only when we were confident we could attain it without losing our independence."
BJU attained accreditation candidacy status in April 2005. Since then it has undertaken a thorough self-study of its academic programs and business operations, documenting hundreds of pages of programs and processes to show the University meets accreditation standards.
A team of 13 TRACS representatives visited the University in September to verify the self-study. The Accrediting Commission based its decision on BJU's self-study and the visiting team's documented findings. Shortly before the vote, Dr. Gary Weier and Dr. David Fisher, university provost, appeared before the commission to address its final questions.
Accreditation is granted for a period of five years, after which BJU will need to verify that it continues to meet accreditation standards.