College accreditation is supposed to be a mark of quality (or at least that it’s not an out-and-out rip-off), and long ago, it worked. But when accreditation became mandatory if a college or university wanted to be eligible for federal funds and regional accrediting organizations were given geographic monopolies, things changed. Schools could no longer say “No, thanks,” and they couldn’t switch to a different accreditor. With different rules, the game changed.
One of the good moves that Betsy DeVos made as Education secretary was to open accreditation up to competition. No more regional monopolies.
Unfortunately, as Adam Kissel observes in today’s Martin Center article, in some states, the law needs to be changed because it still locks state schools into the old accreditation routine.
Why does it matter? Kissel answers that it’s because some of the accreditors have been taken over by “woke” interests, and they abuse their power. He writes:
One way that accreditors abuse power is to interfere with university governance. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the most notorious. SACS recently intervened in the decisions of at least three universities in Florida. The accreditor infamously threatened the august University of Virginia when it didn’t like how UVA’s board got the president to resign.
Accreditors have also interfered with the religious liberty of the schools they accredit. For example, the accreditor for New England universities threatened Gordon College because it asked for a religious exemption for federal contractors that maintain a traditional mission.
This is a problem that’s especially acute in the Southeast, where the Southeastern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has become a menace to institutional freedom. In Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and West Virginia, regulations still presume accreditation by SACS. That needs to change.
Kissel also points to Florida, where under Governor DeSantis, SACS is not only no longer preferred, but state schools are required to search for another accreditor once their current SACS accreditation expires.
College accreditation should pass the test of the market, which requires competition.