Learning Outside Accredited Academic Programs

HEADLINES

Whose Learning Counts? State Actions to Value Skills from Outside the Classroom (Brookings, October 20, 2022) “The lack of recognition for quality learning and skill development that takes place outside an accredited academic program contributes to the undervaluation of talent in the labor market and unequal access to opportunity.”

Stratford University Closure Followed Several Years of Problems With Accreditor (Virginia Mercury, October 19, 2022) "The ACICS decision wasn’t the only trouble Stratford has faced in recent years. The university had received a string of compliance warnings from its accreditor and become ensnared in several lawsuits, including one over whether a branch campus in Iraq was accredited."

How DeSantis and Florida Republicans Are Reshaping Higher Education (Politico, October 16, 2022) "Accreditation agencies generally ensure higher education institutions meet standards of quality. Florida Republicans, led by DeSantis, argue that they have too much authority over the state’s schools. Florida’s new law requiring the state to find a new accrediting agency was spurred partly by fights between higher education leaders and lawmakers and Florida’s longstanding accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACS."

Raising the Bar on Accredited Colleges (Santa Ynez Valley News, October 1, 2022) "Accreditation serves an important function. Accredited colleges must periodically submit a comprehensive report attesting to their ability to clearly define a mission, teach students, manage finances, and follow best practices with oversight from the college’s board of trustees."