The Middle States Association Commission on Higher Education (MSA/CHE) has accepted Cornell University's Periodic Review Report and reaffirmed without condition the university's accreditation.

The commission, at its November 1996 meeting, deemed no follow-up to be necessary and set the next regular evaluation visit for 2000-2001.

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings accepted the reaccreditation notification with pleasure. "I am pleased that the Middle States Association Commission on Higher Education has acted to accept Cornell's Periodic Review Report and to affirm without condition the university's accreditation for the next five years," Rawlings said. "The Oversight Group chaired by Ronald G. Ehrenberg, vice president for academic programs, planning and budgeting, worked hard to distill the excellence and essence of Cornell into the Periodic Review Report and should be commended. We have an outstanding institution of which we can be proud."

The Periodic Review Report (PRR), the Statement of Affiliation Status and the notification from MSA/CHE are available electronically at .

A PRR is required of all post-secondary institutions under the jurisdiction of the MSA/CHE. Cornell's PRR, required at the midpoint of the 10-year reaccreditation cycle, was submitted in June 1996. It examines developments within the university over the last five years, assesses the current situation and projects the general direction of the institution in the immediate years ahead.

The PRR was the basis for the commission's deliberations on the continuation of Cornell's accreditation status. Most recently Cornell was "reaccredited without condition" following a self-study site visit in 1991.

The Oversight Committee began working in August 1995 to prepare the PRR. A draft version of the report was presented to the campus community for review and comment in November 1995. The final version incorporates most of those comments.

Accreditation of a post-secondary educational institution by one of six regional accrediting agencies is a necessary prerequisite for institutions to receive federal funding. MSA/CHE is the regional accrediting agency for all post-secondary institutions in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Republic of Panama and the Virgin Islands.