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THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AND
ACCREDITATION
President Obama's State of the Union address, delivered on
February 12, 2013, generated unexpected attention to higher education
accreditation. A document that accompanied the address, The
President's Plan For A Strong Middle Class & A Strong America,
contained a section on "Holding colleges accountable for cost, value and
quality" that stated:
"The President will call on Congress to consider value,
affordability, and student outcomes in making determinations about which
colleges and universities receive access to federal student aid, either by
incorporating measures of value and affordability into the existing
accreditation system; or by establishing a new, alternative system of
accreditation that would provide pathways for higher education models and
colleges to receive federal student aid based on performance and
results."
The suggestion that the federal government may consider a
"new, alternative system of accreditation" was covered in
publications including The
Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside
Higher Ed and USA
Today, all of which quoted the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA). It also generated stories critical of the current
system of accreditation in publications such as the American Enterprise
Institute's AEI
Ideas.
The articles noted the unexpected nature of this discussion
of accreditation accompanying the State of the Union address, which CHEA
President Judith Eaton termed "startling." "We understand the
importance of the issues of affordability," Eaton told USA Today.
"But all the talk has been about, 'We want to make the existing system
[of accreditation] work differently,' not (that) 'We need a different
system.'"
Eaton and others quoted in the various articles said that
they were unsure what next steps would be for the Administration. However, Inside Higher Ed quoted
Amy Laitinen, Deputy Director for Higher Education at the New America
Foundation, saying that "I think it's a pretty big signal of where they
[the Administration] want to go."
CHEA will follow this issue closely and will keep member
institutions and recognized accrediting organizations informed on any
developments.
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The Federal Update informs CHEA members
and interested parties on federal policy developments related to
self-regulation and peer review. Please direct any inquiries or comments to
Jan Friis, CHEA Vice President for Government Affairs, at friis@chea.org or at (202) 955-6126. Copyright 2013, Council for Higher Education Accreditation. All rights reserved. |
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