Earlier this week, Do No Harm submitted an official comment to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education in response to the department’s notice of proposed rulemaking, “Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization: The Secretary’s Recognition of Accrediting Agencies.”
Do No Harm supports the proposed rule.
As the rule’s executive summary makes clear, accrediting agencies “serve as key gatekeepers in determining which institutions may participate in … Federal student aid programs, which currently provide more than $100 billion in Pell Grants and Federal student loans annually.”
Sadly, while existing regulations are meant to ensure that recognized accrediting agencies are “reliable authorities regarding the quality of education or training offered by … institutions,” too many accreditors have abandoned this mission, “shifting their focus away from student achievement to compelling institutions to adopt illegal and discriminatory ideology and practices.”
By “eliminat[ing] requirements not required by statute, including the ‘two-year rule’ for initial recognition of new agencies, prescriptive site visit mandates, unnecessary documentation requirements, and rigid and overly long processing timelines,” the new rule would help to spur competition among accreditors and force legacy agencies to return their focus to the quality of the institutions they oversee.
Do No Harm’s support for the new rule is based on four criteria:
First, it lowers federal barriers to recognizing new accreditors and makes it easier for schools to switch accreditors, opening a future path that could diminish incumbent-controlled monopolies that have long dominated medical and healthcare accreditation. Second, it strengthens requirements for accreditor independence from affiliated trade and membership organizations. Third, it returns accreditation to its proper focus on educational quality by barring ideologically driven standards and protecting academic freedom. Fourth, it makes the recognition process faster, fairer, and more transparent.
Please read the full comment here or below.
