Federal panel recommends termination for ACICS and critical of American Bar Association - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools got closer to being terminated Thursday after the federal panel that oversees accrediting agencies voted to de-recognize the council, the largest national accreditor that oversees many for-profit colleges. The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) soon will pass its decision back to the U.S. Department of Education, which last week recommended shutting down ACICS and will have 90 days to decide the accreditor's fate. An appeal by the accreditor and lawsuits could follow. Once the decision is finalized, and if a court doesn't block it, the 245 colleges ACICS accredits, which enroll up to 800,000 students, would have 18 months to find a new accreditor. Most notably, the panel on Wednesday rebuked the American Bar Association, in part for its lack of attention to student achievement. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/24/federal-panel-votes-terminate-acics-and-tightens-screws-other-accreditors