Federal Officials Should Get Tougher on Accreditors

A new American Enterprise Institute analysis argues that the U.S. Department of Education should take a more aggressive approach to overseeing accrediting agencies that fail to hold low-performing institutions accountable. The authors point to the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, which accredits hundreds of primarily beauty and cosmetology schools that received more than $1 billion in federal aid in 2024, and note that a federal advisory panel recently recommended against renewing the accreditor’s recognition. The analysis argues that because accreditation serves as a gateway to federal student aid, federal officials should be willing to withdraw recognition when accreditors consistently approve institutions with poor student outcomes rather than relying primarily on institutions themselves to improve.