The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Overview: What is the Baldrige Award?

Founded in 1987 through Public Law 100-107, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award® is the highest level of national recognition that a U.S. organization (businesses and nonprofits) – and now a U.S. community – can receive for performance excellence. Beginning in 2026, the Alliance for Performance Excellence will administer the Baldrige Award on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

To receive the Award, an organization or community must demonstrate high performance, resilience, and long-term success through favorable performance levels and trends, comparisons to competitors and industry benchmarks, and systematic, well-deployed, and aligned approaches. Organizations and communities do not receive the Award for specific products, services, programs, or processes, though how it operates is evaluated to determine overall maturity and role model status.

Organizational and community applicants are evaluated in six main areas:

• Leadership
• Strategy
• Customer
• Organizational Intelligence (formerly Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management)
• Workforce
• Operations

Teams of highly trained national examiners – volunteers from all sizes, types, and sectors across the country – evaluate results and process performance through the lens of an organization’s (or a community’s) key environmental factors. The process involves rigorous evaluation and verification of high performance through site visits and produces a report that outlines key strengths and improvement opportunities as well as examiners’ ratings, rationale, and evidence. Based upon examiner findings, the Baldrige Panel of Judges makes recommendations to the Department of Commerce as to which organizations and communities should receive national recognition of role model status. The Baldrige Award is presented by the President of the United States or a delegated high-ranking leader in the Department of Commerce.

Up to 18 awards are given annually across seven Award categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, nonprofit, and communities. Recipients of the Baldrige Award are not eligible to reapply for recognition for five years.

Award recipients must share information about their exceptional performance practices with other U.S. organizations and communities, but they don’t need to share proprietary information, even if they included this information in their Award applications. The principal mechanisms for sharing information are The Quest for Excellence® Conference (hosted by the Baldrige Foundation) and the fall Baldrige Conference (hosted by the Alliance in collaboration with state/regional Baldrige-based programs). Sharing beyond the Quest for Excellence® Conference is voluntary.

All Award applicant information is held in confidence and only shared on a need-to-know basis (e.g., examiners and judges).

To begin or accelerate a journey to excellence, most organizations and communities first begin with their state, regional, or sector Baldrige-based Alliance member program, as the collective mission of Alliance members is developmental in nature. Find a national directory of official Baldrige-based programs.

Why Apply?

• Winning the Baldrige Award means being recognized for exemplifying excellence, innovation, and resilience. Recipients are identified as national role models of resilience and long-term success: their performance sets the example for others.
• Recipients often see enhanced financial and other benefits, including more visibility for contracts, certifications, and community connections.
• Winners expand their customer/stakeholder base and attract more engaged workforce members — often in challenging labor markets.
• Participating may be part of community stewardship: participation helps other organizations — healthcare, education, nonprofits, and communities — improve for the betterment of the nation.
• Participants become part of a global community of learners who share proven best practices in management and leadership within and across industries and sectors.
• An applicant may receive special recognition related to its core business/values and aligned with its purpose — a point of pride for shareholders, workforce members, and other stakeholders.
• Every applicant receives a report with unique insights related to its performance, innovation, and resilience, showing examiners’ ratings, rationale, and evidence.

While the main purpose of the Baldrige Award is to identify and recognize world-class performance, a Baldrige Award evaluation is also a strategy to help organizations and communities build on their experience with local, regional, and sector Baldrige-based Alliance member programs to learn, grow, and improve. Some senior leaders have shared that Baldrige “helps organizations and communities get better at getting better.”

“The Baldrige application process provided…invaluable feedback that will help shape our future efforts.” — Brian Coltharp, President and Chief Executive Officer, Freese and Nichols Inc.

Changes in 2026

Reflecting the changes announced last fall, the Alliance for Performance Excellence will administer the 2026 Baldrige Award on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce and NIST. Building off the impactful changes of the Baldrige Reimagined process – and informed by extensive input from applicants, examiners, judges, consultants, and other stakeholders – the 2026 Award cycle introduces several meaningful enhancements designed to simplify participation, strengthen feedback, and increase value for applicants.

Changes in Eligibility

Potential applicants may qualify through one of two standard eligibility pathways: receiving the Baldrige-based Top Tier Award of an Alliance Member Program within the last four years (2022–2025), or receiving a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award site visit within the last two years (2024–2025). Applicants who do not meet either pathway may request consideration through an Alternative Evidence of Eligibility process. More information on all eligibility pathways.

Finalist Status

Applicants determined to be eligible and who participate in the 2026 Award process receive automatic “finalist status,” which includes a site visit in 2026 and recognition at the 2027 Quest for Excellence® Conference. Baldrige recipients are selected from all Finalists.

Community

Approved by Congress in 2022, entire communities are now eligible to apply for the Baldrige Award. In this category, a community represents a geographic place where leaders across sectors — such as health care, education, business, nonprofits, and local government — work together to improve shared outcomes for residents, rather than a single municipal government organization. The criteria used for this category are based on the C.O.R.E. Guide, developed by Communities of Resilience & Excellence.

Improved Process

• Further streamlined and aligned Award Criteria, now with six Categories that match the main Baldrige Framework, with Results integrated with Processes.
• Further improved Scoring Rubrics that increase evaluation consistency and serve as a maturity pathway.
• Streamlined evaluation process, removing low-value-added steps and introducing an online examiner portal.
• Increased examiner team size for greater perspective and expertise.

Increased Value

• A more substantial final report outlining key improvement opportunities and potential next steps.
• Reestablishing the role of Site Visit Monitor to promote process consistency and fairness.
• Enhanced examiner training to improve consistency and performance within the Award process.
• Elevating the role of judges and Master Examiners to better support examiner teams.
• A post-evaluation debrief with applicant senior leaders to aid in the transfer of insights.
• Reduced pricing levels across all categories to lower the investment required to participate.

Key dates

Intent to Apply closes Wednesday, April 15 at 8:00pm ET. A non-refundable deposit is due, either a postmarked check by April 15 or an electronic payment (details on the Intent form). Full applications and final payments are due by July 1 at 8:00pm ET; applications are submitted via an online portal. Examiner applications are available May 1 and due by June 1. The Business/Nonprofit version of the full Baldrige Framework is available in early April, with Healthcare/Education versions in the summer.