Graduation Requirements

Defining Graduation Requirements

Accrediting organizations are national governing organizations that provide accreditation to colleges and universities. Institutions of higher education seek admission into and approval of accrediting organizations that often have universal graduation requirements for their students. Member colleges and universities of accrediting organizations routinely complete the process of seeking accreditation and, in doing so, must meet the accrediting bodies' delineated requirements.

States also have help in defining graduation requirements and guidelines for institutions of higher education via detailed statutes as well as rules and regulations for state certifications and endorsements that students may seek. At the same time, colleges and universities offering these certifications and endorsements must develop programs of course offerings that meet the state requirements and must apply to the state for approval of their programs. On receipt of approval, institutions are able to offer their students the course offerings concomitant for the certifications and endorsements.

Historically, the federal government has not been directly involved in regulating college and university graduation requirements. However, the federal government has provided other support for colleges and universities. Significant federal legislation that affected public higher education in the 18th and 19th centuries included the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which required states to provide public higher education with proceeds from the sale of public lands, and the Morrill Land Grant Acts, which established funding sources for the study of agricultural and technical education. The G. I. Bill of 1944, the Federal Work-Study Program established with the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, and the Higher Education Act of 1965 all reflect federal commitments to student financial aid, grant programs, and support for higher education. In addition, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and the National Defense Education Act of 1958 provided federal research funds to institutions of higher learning. Moreover, the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963 offered help for facilities, while the Higher Education Act of 1965 provided federal guidelines on institutional aid that ultimately helped to raise graduation rates to [Page 207]the extent that the aid to students made it easier for individuals to complete a college education.

By the 1950s, public institutions of higher learning and many states moved to centralize their control and governance of institutions of higher learning. States did so through the establishment of higher education boards or coordinating agencies. These evolving state efforts have helped define graduation requirements and institutional accreditation.

Colleges and universities also define graduation requirements through their respective boards of trustees or other named governing bodies. In general, the structure of colleges and universities includes boards of trustees that implement charters of incorporation. As part of their governing authority, these boards have the power to appoint and remove faculty members, to fix salaries, to direct the courses of study to be pursued by the students, and to fill vacancies created in their own bodies. Moreover, boards of trustees define and vote on graduation requirements in their role as the legal decision-making entities of their colleges or universities.

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