Black River Technical College (BRTC) has at its foundation technical programs and workforce training, beginning as Black River Vo-Tech School in 1973. Then-BRVTS became a comprehensive college in 1991 with the establishment of two-year colleges across Arkansas. Black River Technical College gained full initial accreditation by the North Central Association of the Higher Learning Commission in 1997. Five years later, in 2002, the institution received its first ten-year accreditation.
The institution’s second ten-year accreditation was granted in 2012, with a required Monitoring Report on assessment due in 2015. During a time of transitioning in the Higher Learning Commission, the date and format of the scheduled Monitoring Report was modified to be due in an April, 2016 mid-cycle Assurance Argument. Coming at a time when the institution itself was in transition, with a third change of leadership in a short time frame, the embedded Assurance Argument was deemed insufficient. BRTC was subsequently placed on Probation. Following considerable and universal effort, BRTC was removed from sanction in March 2019. In September 2022, BRTC was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence. BRTC’s most recent comprehensive review was completed during the Spring 2023 semester, which resulted in Reaffirmation of Accreditation with no interim monitoring. BRTC’s next accreditation review will occur during academic year 2027-2028.