May 07, 2007
Will Accreditation Be Federalized?
Over the past year, the Department of Education has undertaken concerted efforts to fundamentally alter the way that our institutions are assessed, and to modify the accreditation process in a profound way. The Department's approach would reject the peer-review model that has served effectively in critically assessing an institution's quality in the context of its particular mission and constituency. In its place, the Department appears determined to impose a federal regulatory model that relies heavily on rigid measurement.
The higher education community is united in its opposition to this new and troubling direction, and the six presidential associations have jointly prepared a white paper (http://www.naicu.edu/docLib/20070507_AccredConcerns-5-04-07.pdf) and talking points (http://www.naicu.edu/docLib/20070507_AccredConcerns-TalkPts-5-04-07.pdf). NAICU encourages our member presidents and their staffs to review these documents so that you will be fully informed on what is at stake.
In the next several weeks, the Department will conclude the "negotiated rulemaking" phase of this process aimed at reinventing higher education accreditation. The next step in the process will be the publication of proposed changes in accreditation regulations in the Federal Register, and we anticipate that will occur in June. We fully expect that these proposed regulatory changes will reflect the course charted thus far by the Department.
The higher education community is united in its opposition to this new and troubling direction, and the six presidential associations have jointly prepared a white paper (http://www.naicu.edu/docLib/20070507_AccredConcerns-5-04-07.pdf) and talking points (http://www.naicu.edu/docLib/20070507_AccredConcerns-TalkPts-5-04-07.pdf). NAICU encourages our member presidents and their staffs to review these documents so that you will be fully informed on what is at stake.
In the next several weeks, the Department will conclude the "negotiated rulemaking" phase of this process aimed at reinventing higher education accreditation. The next step in the process will be the publication of proposed changes in accreditation regulations in the Federal Register, and we anticipate that will occur in June. We fully expect that these proposed regulatory changes will reflect the course charted thus far by the Department.