Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Education has drafted a set of standards regulating how and when accreditors must notify federal officials about actions taken against colleges they monitor, and it is accepting public comments through June 6 on a letter to accreditors that describes those actions.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the letter identifies uniform definitions to standardize descriptions of problems at colleges like “suspension” and “denial” of accreditation, and it asks accreditors to rank information they send based on its severity so department officials can more quickly figure out where the more serious issues are.
- The letter says the department plans to organize the information sent by accreditors and share it with the public.
Dive Insight:
Accreditation changes have been in the work for years now as the Obama administration has become more frustrated by the for-profit sector, especially, and the poor outcomes of its students. Accreditors are technically the gatekeepers of federal financial aid, based on the current system. But they evolved as mechanisms for largely self-directed institutional improvement for colleges. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has accused accreditors of being watchdogs that don’t bite. After for-profit Corinthian Colleges went bankrupt, with its accreditation intact, calls for reform increased.
The Obama administration announced a series of executive actions relating to accreditation in November. The changes so far have been relatively minor, however, as Congress will be required to agree on any major changes to the system through the Higher Education Act.