House Hearing on For-Profit Colleges

2019 CHEA Summer Roundtable: Accreditation and Federal Policy June 20, 2019 - Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill-Washington, DC

Accreditation and Federal Policy is a one-day roundtable focusing on the latest federal policy developments affecting higher education accreditation. The roundtable is open to CHEA member institutions and CHEA- and U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting organizations.  Speakers will include Diane Auer Jones, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; Mary Barry, Policy Advisory to Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee; Katherine Valle, Senior Policy Advisory to Congressman Bobby Scott, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor; and a senior minority staff member of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Click here for more information, including a registration form and link to the conference hotel for reservations.

HEADLINES

Democrats, DeVos Deputy Spar Over For-Profit Colleges (Politico “Morning Education,” May 23, 2019) “Diane Auer Jones, a top higher education official, was in the hot seat on Wednesday before a House Oversight subcommittee. Jones sparred with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), the panel’s chairman, over DeVos’ restoration of a large accreditor of for-profit colleges that was terminated by the Obama administration. Krishnamoorthi asked Jones to reconsider her recommendation on the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.” (See archived Webcast of the hearing)

Beefing Up the College Scorecard (Inside Higher Ed, May 22, 2019) “The Education Department on Monday announced progress on delivering more comprehensive data for the College Scorecard, a consumer tool originally launched by the Obama administration. The department added new information for 2,100 non-degree-granting institutions to the consumer-facing website. And, more significantly for the Trump administration’s priorities, it released new preliminary data on student debt for individual programs of study.”

Only A Small Number Of Law Schools Are At Risk Under The ABA’s New Accreditation Standard (Above the Law, May 22, 2019) “Considering that most test takers will pass the bar exam within two years, this might not be such a big deal.”

Trends in Accreditation (American Libraries, May 20, 2019) “Librarianship is a distinct and autonomous profession. And it’s the central role of the American Library Association (ALA) Committee on Accreditation (COA) to ensure that accredited programs are qualified to prepare individuals for careers as librarians. The accreditation process serves the profession and the public, including students and consumers of library services.”

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Education Department’s 2019 Higher Ed Rulemaking (New America Blog, May 16, 2019) “The most troubling changes are to the accreditation system. It can hardly be ignored that the current accreditation system is already very weak--not to mention the inadequate oversight the Department exercises over accreditors. But the new regulations would further weaken both.”