Merger Watch: New Federal Policy Injects Delay and Uncertainty into Merger Process - Commentary

Ricardo Azziz, principal at Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education Consulting Group, writes: Mergers and other corporate restructurings in higher education require the approval of several regulatory bodies. The most prominent of these are the US. Department of Education and the regional accreditors. To fully grasp the extent of their power, one need only remember the rejection of the initial plan to merge Connecticut’s community college system into one organization by its accreditor, the New England Association of Schools and College’s Higher Education Commission. Likewise, a merger between Marymount California University and Saint Leo University was rejected by a different accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC. That decision led to the closure of Marymount California. To be clear, I am not criticizing these decisions.