Accreditation

Southwestern College is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to offer four Master of Arts degrees (Counseling; Art Therapy/Counseling; Art Therapy for Clinical Professionals; Consciousness in Action) and our Ph.D. in Visionary Practice and Regenerative Leadership. HLC is our regional accreditor, and our accreditation through them allows our students to access Department of Education Financial Aid student loans through the FAFSA process.

We were awarded our ten-year re-accreditation in 2021 and will be pursuing our next re-accreditation in 2030-31.

Additionally, our Art Therapy programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org ) upon the recommendation of The Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education.
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) 25400 US Hwy 19N, Suite 158, Clearwater, FL. 33763, Phone: 727-210-2350.

Southwestern College is authorized as a regionally accredited institution of higher education with the New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) and participates in annual data submission, review, and authorization by the state through the Private Post-Secondary Schools program of NMHED.

Southwestern College has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of post-secondary distance education. This allows us to offer our distance education courses to students living anywhere in the country.

Finally, we are approved by the New Mexico Counseling and Therapy Practice Board to offer continuing education for licensed professionals. We offer this through The New Earth Institute in a variety of formats, including our ongoing public lectures series, annual Transformation & Healing Conference and our seven Certificate programs: Addictions, Abuse & Recovery; Applied Interpersonal Neurobiology; Children’s Mental Health; Ecotherapy; Human Sexuality; and Trauma, Grief and Renewal.