What's at Stake in a Possible Accreditation Overhaul

HEADLINES

What’s At Stake in a Possible Accreditation Overhaul (Education Dive, March 7, 2019) "Speakers at this year’s meeting of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), in January, often struck an existential note about their role in the higher education regulatory ‘triad’: federal and state governments and nonprofit accreditors together takes with safeguarding educational quality and more than $120 billion in federal student aid spending.”

More Confusion on Credit-Hour Definition (Inside Higher Ed, March 12, 2019) “The Department of Education on [March 11] proposed to eliminate or substantially alter the existing federal definition of a credit hour, following several rounds of criticism for previous similar proposals.”

Here’s What Trump’s 2020 Budget Proposal Means for Higher Ed (The Chronicle of Higher Education [subscription required], March 11. 2019) “The budget outline also suggests a risk-sharing loan system that would require colleges to share some financial responsibility for defaults on student loans. That change, however, is ‘still under discussion within the administration’ and would require approval from Congress, said Jim Blew, the Education Department's assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development.”

House Education Committee to Hold Hearings on HEA Reauthorization (U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education & Labor, March 8, 2019) “The Committee announced five hearings on higher education, marking the formal start of an effort the reauthorize the Higher Education Act in the 116th Congress. The announcement came in a news release on a new report by the Committee on the value of a college degree.”

America Needs to Rethink Higher Education (The Week, March 9, 2019) “Earlier this month, DeVos released a sweeping list of proposed changes to the federal regulations that govern the U.S.'s higher education system. The goal of these changes, which will be negotiated and discussed in the coming months, according to [USDE Secretary Betsy] DeVos, is to ‘rethink’ higher education and incentivize people to question ‘everything to ensure nothing limits students from being prepared for what comes next.’ To accomplish these ends, DeVos is targeting the crucially important higher education accreditation process.”

Congress Might Finally Overhaul Higher Education (The Atlantic, March 8, 2019) “The law oversees federal programs—student loans, accreditation, completion initiatives—and updating it could change a lot of things about higher ed.”

Accreditor Cites Leadership Problems in Keeping Master’s U. on Probation (The Chronicle of Higher Education Accreditation [subscription required], March 8, 2019) “The regional accreditor that oversees the Master’s University and Seminary is keeping the troubled Christian college on probation. In a letter released this week, the accreditor explained why: Master’s, it says, is still failing to comply with standards that require an independent governing board and ‘operational integrity.’”

UNCF President Calls for Scrutiny of Accreditors (Inside Higher Ed, March 6, 2019) “Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund, called for Congress to scrutinize the decision making of regional accreditors, whom he accused of dealing unfairly with struggling historically black colleges.” (See also Accreditor Rejects Criticism From UNCF, Inside Higher Ed, March 7, 2019).

Time to Fix Public Higher Education in Connecticut (The Hartford Courant, March 5, 2019) “It’s time for Gov. Ned Lamont to take a thoughtful look at the mess that has become higher education in Connecticut. The mess is not primarily about economics. It’s about politics and the 2011 consolidation of the state’s community colleges and universities into one monolithic system office that has shown little more than failure after failure."

Southern Vermont College Closing (Bennington Banner, March 4, 2019) “The decision came one day after a show-cause hearing before the New England Commission of Higher Education to determine whether Southern Vermont College should be placed on probation for failing to meet the financial resources standard for continued accreditation.”