It's official. Cornell University has been reaccredited through 2021.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education gave Cornell its stamp of approval June 23.

To earn reaccreditation, Cornell underwent a comprehensive institutional self-study to determine whether the university meets Middle States' standards. Then a team of external peers visited Cornell to confirm the self-study results. The process takes place every 10 years.

While the university has been accredited by Middle States since 1921, the challenges of reaccreditation seemed especially acute this time around, said Marin Clarkberg, Cornell's accreditation liaison officer and director of Institutional Research and Planning. "Since the last self-study, the standards for accreditation were significantly reshaped, with a new emphasis on outcomes and measurement," she said.

To meet the new standards, the provost's office led an effort to articulate student learning outcomes for the university (available at http://www.cornell.edu/academics/goals/), and faculty across the university enhanced and documented plans for assessing student learning at course and program levels, she noted.

"These efforts paid off, as the visiting team was impressed with the significant progress the university has made on the assessment of student learning," Clarkberg said.

As expected, Middle States asked Cornell officials to write a progress report, due in April 2013, to document further progress in institutional assessment and in assessment of student learning outcomes. Cornell must also provide the commission with a periodic review report, due in 2016. That report is a standard requirement for reaccreditation and examines developments within the university over the last five years, assesses the current situation, and projects the general direction of the institution over the next several years.

The commission also commended Cornell for the quality of its self-study and of the process, according to Clarkberg.

Middle States is a private, nonprofit organization that uses peer evaluation to review the mission, goals, performance and resources of higher education institutions in the mid-Atlantic region. It is recognized by the federal government and by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.