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Accreditation & Student Outcomes

ACCREDITATION & STUDENT OUTCOMES

The American College of Financial Services is accredited by:

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

1007 North Orange Street 
4th Floor, MB #166 
Wilmington, DE 19801 
(267) 284-5011
www.msche.org 

MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). It is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. It examines each institution as a whole, rather than specific programs within institutions. MSCHE assures students and the public of the educational quality of higher education. Its accreditation process ensures institutional accountability, self-appraisal, improvement, and innovation through peer review and the rigorous application of standards within the context of institutional mission.

The American College of Financial Services has been accredited by the Middle States Commission since 1978.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education

The American College of Financial Services is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on 11/17/2022 was to place on probation.

MSCHE Statement of Accreditation Status

Institutional Learning Outcomes

  • Identify various techniques of problem-solving using multiple methods of discovery and critical thinking to meet client or stakeholder need
  • Apply appropriate discipline-specific knowledge to increase expertise in the decision-making process or ongoing improvements
  • Analyze applied financial knowledge and/or educational excellence through a focus on meaningful evaluation of data to make informed decisions to close the gap and eliminate shortcomings or impact on organizational performance for all stakeholders
  • Support an environment of lifelong learning through reflection, insight and inducement of formal and informal learning opportunities
  • Propose compelling examples of how to apply the various ethical standards or legal practices in the best interests of all stakeholders
  • Create effective written and verbal communication that is clear, concise and coherent to effectively articulate the message, information and ideas to a diverse audience across multiple platforms 

Institutional Learning Outcome Performance, 2022

This chart shows the combined performance of the Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs). Please note that the two schools use different assessment measures. The Huebner School program assessments measure the percentage of questions that had a success rate at or above the passing mark (70%) mapped to the ILOs. The Graduate School assessments measure the percentage of students who scored at or above the passing mark (80%) on gradebook items mapped to the ILOs.

Solomon S. Huebner School (Undergraduate Studies)

The Huebner School offers six professional designation programs for individuals working in the financial services industry and an educational program qualifying students to sit for CFP Board’s national certification exam. Students may take a single course, a full program, or multiple programs according to their individual preferences. Program completion rates reflect those student preferences as well as the rigorous nature of the coursework.

  • Huebner School designation programs range in scope from 3 to 8 courses. Aggregate designation completion rates vary by designation from 27.4 percent to 58.7 percent for students who entered The American College of Financial Services between 2016 and 2018.1
  • Between 2017 and 2021, the CFP® certification exam pass rates for students who have completed The American College of Financial Services' CFP® education program exceeded the national average for all other providers by an average of 11 percentage points.

Irwin Graduate School

Admission to The American College of Financial Services' graduate degree programs requires professional experience in addition to a baccalaureate degree. Graduation rates reflect the professional expertise of students accepted into these programs as well as the rigorous nature of the coursework.

  • The Master of Science in Management (MSM) had an aggregate graduation rate of 95.9 percent for students enrolled in the program between 2016 and 2018.2
  • The Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFP) had an aggregate graduation rate of 64.7 percent for students who enrolled between 2012 and 2014.2
  • The completion rate for the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) designation is 68.3 percent for students who enrolled between 2016 and 2018.2
  • As of December 2021, The American College of Financial Services has awarded 24 PhDs.

General College Information

  • In AY 2020-2021, 27.7 percent of designations and 27.0 percent of graduate degrees were awarded to women.
  • The large majority of students enrolled in The American College of Financial Services' designations and graduate degree programs are employed in the financial services industry at the time they enroll.

1 Designation program completion rates are calculated annually based on a 5-year period from the year of enrollment. Aggregate completion rates are calculated as a 3-year average for each designation program.
2 The MSM is an accelerated, cohort-based program that takes 18-24 months to complete. MSM graduation rates are calculated based on a 2-year period from the year of enrollment. MSFS graduation rates are calculated based on a 7-year period from the year of enrollment. (In 2021, the name of this program was changed to Master of Science in Financial Planning.)
3 The American College of Financial Services reserves the right to revise the data whenever new data are generated. Information on this page was revised in April 2022.