Accreditation Agita

Career College Central summary:

During a hearing held last Thursday, several Democratic senators mulled whether the federal government should get more involved in the accrediting process. They might have been less enthusiastic if they saw what was happening at another meeting two blocks away.
The federal panel that reviews accreditors, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, held that gathering. Faculty members and students from the City College of San Francisco, who for the past year have essentially waged war against the accrediting agency that is threatening to revoke the accreditation of their college, pleaded their case to the panel.
Faculty union representatives and student leaders asked the panel to recommend that the Education Department no longer recognize the accrediting agency — effectively stripping the accreditor of any meaningful power. Only colleges that are approved by federally recognized accreditors can participate in federal student aid programs.
Supporters of City College from various constituencies are already mounting three separate legal challenges against the accreditor, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
The staff of the Education Department’s accreditation group has recommended that ACCJC continue to be recognized by the federal government for another year to try to bring itself into compliance with a range of issues. But City College supporters have decried that recommendation as a mere slap on the wrist.

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