In this week’s Pope Center Clarion Call, Rich DeMillo, author of the wonderful 2011 book Abelard to Apple, writes about our college-accreditation system. He finds it to be very costly but of scant value to institutions and suggests that, in the not-too-distant future, other means of identifying quality programs will emerge.

I think he’s right. Most of the accreditation system is indeed a needless burden that wouldn’t pass the test of the market if institutions could drop it without losing eligibility for federal financial aid. The federal government ought to get out of this business.