Firmer Proposals on Accreditation - Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

Sustain the link between accreditation and access to federal financial aid. Set a national minimum standard for states to follow in ensuring consumer protection in higher education. Consider structuring accreditation so that it is judged based on institution type or mission rather than geography, and so that accreditors can more easily distinguish between colleges of varying quality. Define a common set of data that the federal government would collect and share with accreditors, both to minimize reporting burden and to assure consistency. The data might include licensure, job placement and completion data -- the latter collected "through a privacy-protected national unit record system." Those are among the recommendations contained in a second draft of the report that the U.S. Education Department's advisory committee on accreditation is preparing for Education Secretary Arne Duncan.