In 2012 a federal panel that advises the education secretary on accreditation released a modest set of proposals to be considered in Congress’s reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
More than two years later, that same panel is discussing amending those recommendations with a set of far-reaching proposals that would change both the accreditation process and the role of the panel itself. Among the recommendations being considered are eliminating the regional boundaries that define the nation’s six major accrediting bodies and granting more authority to the panel to oversee accreditors and to develop policy.
“So much of the higher-education landscape has shifted” since 2012, said Susan D. Phillips, chairwoman of the 18-member group, called the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, which met in this Washington suburb on Thursday. The panel oversees the recognition of accrediting agencies, which must be approved by the federal government in order to serve as the gatekeepers for federal student aid.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: https://chronicle.com/article/National-Advisory-Panel-on/150815
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