Dive Brief:
- In a report to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), the U.S. Department of Education recommended limiting the power of the WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, which has taken fire for being too harsh with the California community college system.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the department recommended denying a request for broader authority to approve new bachelor’s degree programs at the state’s community colleges and also revoking existing authority in that realm, writing that the accreditor needs to develop a “consistent, regular and thorough” review process of four-year programs and create “sufficiently rigorous” faculty and curricular standards.
- The report recommends allowing ACCJC to maintain its federal recognition as an accreditor of two-year programs for one year and grandfathering in four-year programs that have already received accreditation from the organization.
Dive Insight:
Leaders of the California community college system have been considering replacing the ACCJC with another accrediting body since it voted to revoke accreditation from the City College of San Francisco in 2013. Partly thanks to intervention from Washington and a judge’s injunction, the City College still has not lost its accreditation, though it will remain in danger at least until 2017 as the ACCJC gives it time to come into compliance with accreditation standards before voting again on its status.
The San Francisco case illustrates the problems accreditors face in this country. They are attacked both for being too lenient on colleges like those owned by Corinthian, which maintained accreditation through their bankruptcy, and for being too harsh when they try to crack down.