College Costs

HEADLINES

'Runaway College Costs' (Inside Higher Ed, November 5, 2020) "At first glance, accreditation of university programs in the United States appears to be controlled by regional and disciplinary accrediting bodies. However, both federal and state government agencies play extensive roles in the accrediting process by virtue of laws, regulations and funding. This means that refashioning accrediting bodies will not by itself solve the problem. Joint action is required, and this will be very difficult to achieve. A first step, however, is to reorient accrediting bodies away from their frequent emphasis upon counting inputs and toward an evaluation of the educational outputs of institutions even years after students have graduated."

Ed Flags More Issues With For-Profit Accreditor ACICS (Education Dive, November 4, 2020) "The Ed Department's accreditation advisory committee will review ACICS during its upcoming meeting in February. ACICS also found itself in trouble in the past year with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an industry group that vets accreditors. After a CHEA committee noted it wasn't in compliance with nine of its standards and recommended denying it recognition, ACICS withdrew its consideration for recognition."

'A Big Concern': After We Couldn't Find Students or Faculty at College, Agency Scrambled to Crack Down (USA Today, October 28, 2020) "A USA TODAY investigation last winter into Reagan National University had found no evidence of students or faculty at the college at all, even though the institution was approved to operate by an accrediting agency sanctioned by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos."

Paine Colleges Gets Full TRACS Accreditation (The Augusta Chronicle, October 27, 2020) “Paine College has gained full accreditation with the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Paine is still fighting to regain its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The school initially lost its SACS accreditation in 2016, but when the college filed an appeal, the judge allowed the school to keep its status under a probationary status while the case was being disputed. Paine lost its appeal in April and its SACS accreditation in May.”