UNC System ‘exploring’ creating its own accrediting agency, president says

Before the RAs got serious about DL, and before DEAC got in the game in a big way, there were three efforts to start an accrediting agency for DL schools. Two were set up to "accredit" diploma mills, and one was a sincere effort by the owners of one school to accredit it and a handful of others. Which is the root of the question....

Who accredits the accreditors? That question really matters, especially in the U.S.

Accreditation comes with several advantages, including quality control, improving operations, etc. But recognized accreditation comes with two specific advantages. First, participation in Title IV (federal student aid) programs is often available to schools accredited by recognized accreditors. Second, degrees are much more likely to be accepted (recognized as degrees) by various entities judging one's education.

Recognition of accrediting agencies comes from two sources: CHEA (private) and the Department of Education (public). It is the latter's list that is compiled for Title IV purposes.

If a bunch of state schools (or a bunch of states with public schools) got together and formed their own accrediting association, what would happen to the two benefits described above? And would they limit themselves to just those state schools? What about community colleges? Private colleges and universities in the state? Other tertiary institutions? And what would the advantage in doing this be?

There's a lot to unpack there. But I'm not hearing how it will be different or better. Sounds like old wine in new bottles (again).

 

Hard to minimize federal interference while cashing all those FAFSA checks.

CHEA and its constituent accreditation agencies arose out of a lack of regulation of higher education. For a long time, financial aid money wasn't a critical consideration, and there was serious overlap between CHEA and the Department of Education's list. But these days, what's the point of CHEA?

 

I remember reading years ago now that the University of Wisconsin was contemplating going without regional accreditation altogether. One person explained that, even without RA, UW would still be UW and well established in the higher education world.

UW didn't do it, of course, but the idea was interesting.

 

Good. It would have been selfish.

The accrediting-agencies-formerly-known-as-regional arose from--and are made up of--their constituent colleges and universities. That means what the member schools do has an impact on both the accreditor and the member institutions. (In social science we call this structuration--see Anthony Giddens.) Wisconsin, being such an important school, isn't just subject to the accreditor--what it does affects it. In short, they have a leadership role to play.