Accreditors Sharpen Focus on Equity in Student Outcomes

January 13, 2020

HEADLINES

Accreditors Sharpen Focus on Equity in Student Outcomes (Education Dive, January 8, 2020) “The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a regional accreditor, is newly requiring institutions within its purview to separate out data on graduation rates for students by gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, among other measures.”

Mass. Commission Adopts New Rules For College Closures (WBUR, January 10, 2020) “State higher education officials on Friday approved a new set of regulations that will govern how they screen colleges and universities for financial risks and potential closures. Department of Higher Education staff will continue working with the regional accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, to finalize a memorandum of understanding for NECHE to conduct an annual screenings and share information with the department.”

Report: H.R. 4674, the College Affordability Act: Proposed Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Summary of Major Provisions (Congressional Research Service, January 7, 2020) “A summary report on major provisions in legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.”

Connecticut Still Seeking to Merge Community Colleges Despite Concerns (The Hartford Courant, January 6, 2020) “Plans are still moving ahead to consolidate Connecticut's 12 community colleges into a single accredited school by 2023, despite escalating resistance from faculty unions who question whether the complicated proposed merger will work or even makes sense.”

Governor’s Support of HBCUs Laudable, Though Financial, Other Struggles Continue (Virginia Mercury, January 6, 2020) “The task for HBCUs, though, remains daunting. Several have closed across the country in the past few decades, usually because of problems with accreditation, recruitment or financing.”

Ten Higher Education Predictions for a New Decade (Inside Higher Ed, January 6, 2020) “Reinvention of Accreditation: Accreditation currently does little to advance quality assurance, and the process is slow, expensive, unwieldy, and bureaucratic. This cannot continue.”

To Support Today's Students, Congress Must Strengthen Oversight of Colleges (The Hill, December 27, 2019) “As Congress considers reauthorizing HEA for today’s students, it needs to usher in a new era of strong federal oversight over higher education. One place ripe for improvements is our accreditation system.”