News from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation –Fall 2024

Welcome to the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is pleased to share the Fall 2024 edition of Accreditation Central. CHEA/CIQG supports you—our members—in higher education accreditation. CHEA's unwavering commitment is to serving members, students, and society through support of institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and quality in higher education.

President’s Update - Unlocking the Full Potential of Higher Education Accreditation: Expanding Recognition and Impact

Cynthia Jackson Hammond, Ed.D.
President
Council for Higher Education Accreditation

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has embarked on a new era of global engagement by expanding the Recognition process to include international accreditation organizations. This decision marks a significant step toward fostering greater collaboration and enhancing the quality of higher education worldwide. The initiative follows a thorough evaluation by CHEA’s Board of Directors and the Committee on Recognition, which examined the potential benefits and the overall impact of recognizing international organizations. The Recognition process is open to accrediting bodies worldwide under the same guidelines and rigorous standards applied to U.S. accreditation organizations.

By recognizing international accreditation organizations, CHEA extends its commitment to quality assurance beyond the U.S., signaling to the global higher education community that these organizations meet or exceed CHEA’s requirements for academic quality assurance, integrity, transparency, and ethical protocols.

The CHEA Standards and Procedures for Recognition, first introduced in 1998 and revised and approved in 2021, will continue to guide the Recognition process, ensuring that both domestic and international organizations uphold the same level of professionalism and impartial evaluation when reviewing institutions.

CHEA’s global Recognition acknowledges higher education as an increasingly interconnected community. By opening the process of international Recognition, CHEA is collaborating with global communities to enhance the expectations of higher education institutions, ensuring that institutional quality assurance is a global priority and that U.S. and international students are receiving the best opportunities for college success.

We look forward to working closely with international accreditation organizations as we continue advancing quality assurance worldwide. For more information, contact CHEA Vice President for Recognition, Loretta Waldron, at [email protected]

A Welcome Initiative for Greater Global Quality Assurance

David A. Schmidt, Ph.D.
President, American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK), and member, CHEA Board of Directors

As President Jackson Hammond noted, the recent announcement of the Recognition of international accreditation organizations underscores “CHEA’s commitment to advancing quality assurance worldwide."

As a two-term university president abroad (at American-styled institutions with U.S. and local accreditation), along with 30 years of service in U.S. higher education specialized in international education, I was honored to be part of the CHEA subcommittee that recommended opening the Recognition process to international organizations.

International accrediting organizations have long sought partnerships regarding quality assurance and developing protocols to support their institutions. The need for a more standardized accreditation ecosystem is substantial, and CHEA’s timely and much-needed response is a testament to a commitment to advancing and leading global quality assurance.

While much has been done to internationalize institutions and international accreditation partnerships, this initiative will further facilitate and strengthen the interdependent partnerships between a higher standard of global quality assurance and the institutions they accredit and serve. In the end, as most institutions in the U.S. and abroad seek to establish more meaningful and active partnerships, this initiative will, in my opinion, lead the way for international accrediting bodies to foster greater international collaboration and enhance the global quality of higher education.

This new initiative, which fills a void and provides a much-needed and welcome service globally, is a vital step forward for CHEA.  Additionally, it is another example of how CHEA again leads the way in setting a standard of excellence, this time an international standard.

Recognition of International Accreditation Organizations Promises Quality Higher Education Worldwide

Kristina Collins, Ph.D.
Chair, Board of Directors, Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP),
and Assistant Vice President for Assessment and Accreditation, Ivy Tech Community College

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) Board of Directors has recently taken a significant step forward in the internationalization of higher education by now offering Recognition to all global accrediting organizations. This decision aligns closely with the model of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), a U.S.-based specialized accreditor recognized for its rigorous accreditation process based on the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence.

Now in its third decade of CHEA Recognition, ACBSP is the first organization to offer accreditation at all levels of collegiate business education programs, from associate to doctoral degrees.

ACBSP's standards are known for their comprehensive evaluation of business programs, focusing on key areas such as leadership, strategic planning, stakeholder relationships, academic program quality, faculty credentials, and educational support. This meticulous approach ensures that accredited programs and their respective institutions maintain only the highest standard of excellence with a commitment to continuous quality improvement.

The CHEA Board's decision to extend Recognition to international accrediting bodies complements ACBSP's efforts by promoting standards of educational excellence. This move will no doubt enhance and improve the quality and credibility of international higher education, providing a myriad of collaborative opportunities for like-minded accreditors throughout the global landscape.

The End Woke Bill and Gainful Employment Rules

Jan Friis
Senior Vice President for Government Affairs
Council for Higher Education Accreditation 

The U.S. House of Representatives passed (213 to 210) H.R. 3724, the Accreditation for College Excellence Act, a combination of two bills. First would restrict accreditors from creating standards based on any “ideology, belief, or viewpoint,” would allow institutions with a religious mission to require adherence to religious practices, and would limit the Recognition standards used by the U.S. Department of Education for accreditors to only those stated in the Higher Education Act. The second could require significant adjustment adjustments in institutional policies concerning protecting free speech on campus and ensuring student safety.

The U.S. Senate is unlikely to consider this legislation, and the White House has said the bill “would go beyond Congress’s traditional role in higher education with a wide range of confusing and unprecedented new mandates.”

Cynthia Jackson Hammond, CHEA president, said in a statement to the press, “The End Woke Bill, in principle, supports the First Amendment but strips accreditors of their independence to implement standards that support institutions and quality assurance. Accrediting organizations are independent, impartial agencies that work with institutions to best assess the quality performance of an institution and or academic program. Accrediting organizations should not be subjected to political preferences that erode the historical construct of institutional autonomy.” Jackson Hammond added, “Accreditation is an academic quality assurance process that requires non-interference from political intrusions at the state or federal levels.“

U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced it would delay, for the second time, the deadline colleges and universities need to report program-level data and student outcomes from Oct. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025.

A significant number of institutions and associations sought the extensions, saying it is difficult to comply with the requirements in part due to the challenges with the FAFSA. Twenty 20 U.S. Senators requested in a letter that the Education Department is requesting that the agency push back the deadline.

USDE wants to publish the data so the public can learn the program costs and student debt burden for each program to help determine if the program is worth the cost of attendance

2025 CHEA/CIQG Annual Conference

Join CHEA and your peers at the 2025 CHEA/CIQG Annual Conference scheduled for January 27-January 30 in Washington, D.C. This year’s in-person event promises to build on the excitement, momentum, and successes of last year’s Annual Conference with a theme of “Quality Assurance in an Era of Change: Reflect, Reimagine, Recommit,” a premise that seeks to engage the global CHEA/CIQG community. This year’s Annual Conference will be held at the Westin Washington, D.C. City Center Hotel. Check out the CHEA Annual Conference details on the CHEA website.