i

Contents

iii About the Baldrige Excellence Framework

The Baldrige framework empowers your organization to reach its goals, improve results, and become more 

competitive. The framework consists of the Criteria, the core values and concepts, and the scoring guidelines.

vii How to Use the Baldrige Excellence Framework

You can use this booklet as a reference, for self-assessment, or as the basis of an external assessment. 

1 Education Criteria for Performance Excellence Overview and Structure

The Education Criteria include the Organizational Profile and seven interconnected categories. 

3 Education Criteria for Performance Excellence

3 P Organizational Profile

P.1 Organizational Description

P.2 Organizational Situation

6 1 Leadership

1.1 Senior Leadership:

1.2 Governance and Societal Contributions

10 2 Strategy

2.1 Strategy Development

2.2 Strategy Implementation

13 3 Customers

3.1 Customer Expectations

3.2 Customer Engagement

16 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

4.1 Measurement, Analysis, Review, and Improvement of Organizational Performance

4.2 Information and Knowledge Management

19 5 Workforce

5.1 Workforce Environment

5.2 Workforce Engagement

22 6 Operations

6.1 Work Processes

6.2 Operational Effectiveness
ii 2023–2024 Baldrige Excellence Framework

25 7 Results

7.1 Student Learning and Process Results

7.2 Customer Results 

7.3 Workforce Results

7.4 Leadership and Governance Results 

7.5 Budgetary, Financial, Marketplace, and Strategy Results

30 Scoring System

Performance against Education Criteria items is scored on two evaluation dimensions: process and results.

32 Process Scoring Guidelines

33 Results Scoring Guidelines

35 Education Criteria for Performance Excellence Items and Point Values

37 How to Respond to the Education Criteria

This section explains how to respond most effectively to the Education Criteria item questions.

40 Core Values and Concepts

These embedded beliefs and behaviors form the foundation of the Education Criteria.

46 Changes from the 2021–2022 Baldrige Excellence Framework

48 Glossary of Key Terms

The glossary includes definitions of terms in small caps in the Education Criteria and scoring guidelines.

57 Index of Key Terms

60 List of Contributors

On the Web

Education Criteria Commentary

For each Criteria item, this commentary provides an in-depth explanation and additional examples to build users’ 

understanding.
3 Customers 15

3.2 Customer Engagement: How do you build relationships and enhance the customer 

experience? 

response to this itemType of information to provide in 

PROCESS

a. Student and Other Customer Experien

(1) Relationship Management How do you build and manage student and other customer relationships?

do you 

• build a more student- and other customer-focused organizational culture,

• manage and enhance your brand, and

• meet students’ and other customers’ requirements and exceed their expectations in each stage of their 

relationship with you?

(2) Student and Other Customer Access and Support How do you enable students and other customers 

information and obtain support? How do your processes or mechanisms vary for different student and other 

customer groups or market segments, as appropriate? How do you

• determine your students’ and other customers’ key support requirements and expectations, and

• deploy these requirements to all people and processes involved in student and other customer support?

(3) Complaint Management How do you manage student and other customer complaints? How do you reso

complaints promptly and effectively and recover your students’ and other customers’ confidence? How do 

you analyze complaints and use this information to make the necessary changes to prevent future complaints?

(4) Fair Treatment How do your student and other customer experience processes promote and en

treatment for different students, student groups, other customer groups, and market seg

b. Determination of Student and Other Customer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Engag

How do you determine student and other customer satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and engagement? How d

determination methods differ among your student and other customer groups and market segments, as appropriate? How do you take action on the results of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and engagement determination methods? 

How do you obtain information on students’ and other customers’ satisfaction with your organization relative to 

competitors and other organizations providing similar programs and services?

Terms in small caps are defined in the Glossary of Key Terms (pages 48–56).

Notes

3.2. Results for student and other customer perceptions 

and actions (outcomes) should be reported in item 7.2.

3.2a. You should ensure that your approaches for managing student and other customer relationships, enabling 

students and other customers to seek information and support, and managing complaints promote fairness, equity, 

and inclusion and do not inadvertently discriminate. 

3.2b. Determining student and other customer dissatisfaction should be seen as more than reviewing low satisfaction 

scores. It should be independently determined to identify 

root causes and enable a systematic remedy to avoid future 

dissatisfaction. 

3.2b. Information on relative satisfaction with other organizations may include comparisons with competitors, comparisons with organizations that deliver similar educational 

programs or services in a noncompetitive marketplace, or 

comparisons with benchmarks obtained through education 

sector or other organizations. Such information may also 

include information on why students and other customers 

choose your competitors over you.

For additional guidance on this item, see the Education 

Criteria Commentary.