In higher education, there’s a tendency to treat course evaluations as a routine end-of-term task—something to be completed, archived, and revisited only when needed. But with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) introducing updated accreditation criteria that take effect in September 2025, that mindset is no longer sustainable.
Course evaluations are now a critical part of the accreditation strategy. For institutions seeking reaffirmation, modernizing how they collect, interpret, and act on student feedback could be the difference between a smooth review and a last-minute scramble.
A New Era for Accreditation
The HLC’s newly revised Criteria for Accreditation and Assumed Practices, adopted in June 2024, introduce a stronger focus on student success, data-informed decision-making, and institutional accountability (source). These updates go into effect on September 1, 2025, aligning with a broader shift in how the HLC assesses institutional quality.
Key updates include:
- Clearer expectations for evidence of student learning and institutional improvement
- Requirements for timely use of data to demonstrate accountability
- A heightened focus on student success and outcome metrics under Criteria 4 and 5
These changes signal a new bar for what constitutes acceptable documentation during Assurance Reviews. HLC institutions must now demonstrate that student feedback is not only collected, but used meaningfully and promptly to drive measurable improvements.
Why Traditional Course Evaluations Fall Short
Despite the increased importance of student input, many institutions still rely on legacy evaluation systems that don’t meet modern accreditation needs. Common pain points include:
- Low response rates, raising questions about validity and student representation
- Limited disaggregation, making it hard to analyze trends by student cohort or course type
- Delayed reporting, which hinders timely instructional improvements
- Cumbersome formats, that make it difficult to align with the HLC’s Canopy platform for evidence submission
In short, traditional tools are often insufficient for satisfying the revised accreditation criteria, especially in an era where institutions must show real-time responsiveness and equity-focused analysis.
Evaluations That Go Beyond the End of Term
Accreditation readiness now demands more than end-of-term surveys. Institutions must show that they are using high-quality student feedback to inform decisions, drive faculty development, and improve learning environments.
Modern tools make this possible by offering:
- Mobile-optimized evaluations and reminder systems, which dramatically increase response rates (Educause study on student engagement)
- AI-powered comment analysis, to quickly identify trends in student sentiment
- Real-time dashboards, offering breakdowns by course, instructor, modality, and student cohort
- Mid-term feedback capabilities, to support proactive, rather than reactive, intervention
- Exportable evidence artifacts, aligned with Assurance Review requirements
EvalSystem is one such solution that helps institutions make course evaluations a strategic asset. Our platform enables institutions to collect high-volume, actionable feedback and use it to support accreditation narratives in a measurable, time-sensitive manner.
How This Supports HLC Readiness
Each major HLC development over the past year has underscored a consistent message: Student success must be demonstrated with timely, disaggregated, and actionable data.
Here’s how course evaluation reform aligns with those expectations:
Revised Criteria for Accreditation (Effective September 1, 2025)
Institutions must provide clear evidence that data is being used for improvement. EvalSystem offers same-day insights and AI-generated summaries that help IR teams and academic leaders include fresher, more persuasive examples in Assurance arguments.
Source: HLC Criteria Overview
Move to Canopy Assurance Platform
The transition from HLC’s legacy system to Canopy introduces new workflows and documentation expectations. EvalSystem’s exportable PDF and CSV reports, organized by course and question-level metrics, make it easier for schools to populate Canopy evidence folders.
Source: Canopy Transition Brief
Institutional Update (IU) Overhaul in 2025
The next IU cycle will require validated, disaggregated student success data. EvalSystem automatically tags each response by section, modality, and cohort, reducing manual data-wrangling by institutional research teams.
Source: HLC Annual Institutional Update Guide
Student Success Quality Initiative Embedded in Policy
The HLC has formally embedded its Student Success Quality Initiative into its accreditation framework, raising the bar for evidence of retention, equity, and learning gains (source). EvalSystem provides time-stamped feedback, early alerts, and comment analytics that support both proactive intervention and retrospective documentation.
The Takeaway: Evaluation is Strategy
Institutions that treat course evaluations as afterthoughts risk falling behind in an accreditation landscape that now demands transparency, agility, and student-centered evidence. Schools that elevate their evaluation systems will not only meet HLC expectations, but also improve institutional effectiveness and student experience.
Accreditation success is no longer just about what you’ve achieved. It’s about how you’re improving, how you’re listening, and how fast you can respond.
Let’s Talk
At EvalSystem, we help institutions modernize their approach to course evaluations so they can better support their students and meet evolving accreditation standards. If your team is preparing for an HLC reaffirmation—or simply ready to turn feedback into results—we’d love to show you how we can help.
Keep Reading!
In our next article, we will discuss critical action items every campus should be aware of when prepping for HLC re-accreditation, specifically focusing on the major changes in flight as recently as this year!