Accrediting agencies are responsible for doling out the “stamp of approval” that institutions of higher education need to be eligible to accept federal student aid. Though the federal government invests over $130 billion annually in federal financial aid for today’s students, federal policy does not have a clear focus on ensuring that students use those dollars at high-quality colleges and universities.
Current policy requires accreditors to focus too much on compliance and not enough on ensuring that the institutions they evaluate and accredit produce strong student outcomes. Accreditation is the key to ensuring that taxpayers receive a strong return on investment from higher education and students receive a high-quality experience and strong outcomes in exchange for the financial sacrifices they make to attend college.
Higher education policy experts and advocates from a wide variety of organizations and on both sides of the political aisle agree: the current accreditation system needs a stronger focus on student outcomes when determining which institutions receive and keep accredited status.
While Ted Mitchell was Under Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education, he stated : “We’re using the tools of transparency to provide everyone with more information and, quite frankly, to say to accreditors we’re paying attention to this with renewed vigor and that it’s going to matter” whether they focus more intently on student outcomes.