Accreditation and Financial Issues

HEADLINES

“Dire Financial Straits”: A Portrait of a Desperate University That Made All the Wrong Bets (The Chronicle of Higher Education [subscription required], July 19, 2019) “A report from the accreditor and related documents provide a cautionary tale for small colleges about the risks of go-for-broke comeback strategies. ‘There is substantial doubt about whether’ Cincinnati Christian ‘should remain accredited,’ the commission wrote in a July 11 letter to the university’s president. Losing accreditation would mean the university could not receive federal student aid, a step that could force it to close.”

Shalala Amendment Pushes Tougher Scrutiny of For-Profits (Inside Higher Ed, July 15, 2019) “A House amendment included in a $733 billion defense spending bill last week requires that the Department of Defense audit for-profit colleges that don’t clear federal financial responsibility standards.”

Senator Pledges to Break Up the Higher Education Monopoly With New Laws (The College Fix, July 17, 2019) “A United States senator has vowed to take on the ‘higher education monopoly’ while also providing nontraditional educational institutions with significant resources. Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, ‘is introducing two pieces of legislation this week that will expand federal aid for people pursuing vocational education and will put higher education institutions on the hook for students unable to repay student loans,’ his office stated in a press release.”

Accrediting Agency Wants Answers from USC on “Undue Influence” in Presidential Search (The Charlotte Observer, July 16, 2019) “The University of South Carolina received a letter addressed to President Harris Pastides from The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) on Monday evening asking for a formal response on whether Gov. Henry McMaster’s involvement in the school’s presidential search violates SACS policies”