HLC, proposed minimum expectations, and the Big 3

I'm at the HLC Annual Conference in Chicago. This proposed change caught my eye under Proposed Minimum Expectations within the Criteria for Accreditation...

Criterion 5, Part 7

"The institution requires that 30 of the last 60 credits that it awards for a bachelor's degree and 15 of the last 30 for an associate's degree be credits delivered by the institution."

OK, the Big 3 are NOT HLC schools, I get that. BUT, most of the regionals have similar regulations. Does anyone know if the Middle States Commission (Excelsior & TESC), or New England Association of Schools and Colleges (COSC), have any similar changes in the pipeline?

Shawn

 

This is a double-edged, but I think it's a good suggestion. What "I" like about it, is that the institution must DELIVER education. That seems like a no-brainer, but at TESC, you can't complete most of the degrees in-house. That always felt a little millish to me. The part that cuts the student, is a loss of credit beyond 90 hours. A lot of people attend the big-3 simply because they have so much credit. This adds time and cost in a big way. No less than $5000 using today's TESC rates.

 

I don't know, but since this is a proposed rule change by HLC, and the regionals tend to mirror each other, this MIGHT be an issue. This rule change may also impact other degree completion programs.

Shawn

 

I can't see the accrediting body for the big 3 trying to pull their accreditation for this. Especially since the schools were founded primarily for this purpose almost 40 years ago. However, I can definitely see this applying to new applications for accreditation. It is always harder to gain accreditation than it is to keep it.

 

I can see a timeline. 5 years. 7 years maybe where the existing schools are required to come into compliance with new regs. You can't have a two tiered system with substantially different rules for different schools. They all will have to come into allignment eventually.

 

good post,interesting

 

SACS requires that at least 25% of a bachelors degree and at least 50% of a graduate degree is done at the awarding institution. The HLC rules would affect three or four state universities in Illinois that have adult degree completion programs that require 15-24 units of residency. These would have to up that requirement to 30. The "Big Three" have been specially chartered by their states to perform the services that they do, so Middle States and New England would, most likely, grandfather them into any such regulation.

 

I can't help you with tuition, however, when you enroll in a program, you're locked into the requirements at the time of enrollment. So, even if the program/degree changes, you won't be subject to those changes.

 

Usually this is the case but not always, unfortunately.

 

There is no guarantee that tax break you refer to will be available in 2012. The 2012 budget starts on Oct 1, 2011 and as far as I know nothing has been submitted for vote by the House of Representatives (The resolution which passed the house several days ago was just for political posturing).

I say try to finish your degree ASAP. Tax deductions for 2011 are probably safe through September 30 of this year.