Should the role of accreditors be limited? Two separate debates on the future of accreditation took shape Monday, and each raised the possibility.
Another common thread ran through both discussions: the need for more flexibility and transparency in a process that is required for colleges to receive federal student-aid dollars.
In a conference call, members of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity discussed their latest set of proposals tooverhaul the accreditation process and the way the committee assesses the accreditors.
"There is a need for a more differentiated process that allows for different levels of accreditation, for more transparency and openness in the accreditation and the recognition process, and a greater emphasis on student achievement and student outcomes," says the draft document from the advisory committee, which makes recommendations to the education secretary on whether accrediting agencies should be approved. When the draft is complete, the advisory group will forward it to Congress to be considered during the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Shortly after the committee finished its phone conference, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions released a somewhat similar set of proposals in a white paper written by committee staff members.
The paper was one of three by the Senate committee staff, each meant to elicit feedback from people in higher education before the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, said Sen. Lamar Alexander in a news release. The Tennessee Republican is the committee's chairman.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/2-Proposals-for-Accreditation/228713