Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Future of Accreditation: Two Think Tanks Weigh in - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

A new report from the Center for American Progress says 12 of the largest accrediting agencies lack the budgets and staffing necessary to adequately monitor the quality of colleges they oversee. The conservative Heritage Foundation also released a report on accreditation this week, calling on the U.S. Congress to decouple federal aid financing from the accreditation process. Instead, the report called for all federal loans to be issued under the terms of graduate Stafford Loans. Heritage also voiced support for a 2014 legislative proposal from Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, that would allow states to opt out of the current, federally sanctioned accreditation system and to instead set their own rules for accreditation. That might mean accrediting and issuing aid for alternative programs of study and even individual courses. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/03/29/2-think-tanks-weigh-accreditation