Every six months or so, about 18 higher education experts plant themselves in a hotel conference room for three days to dig deep into the federal recognition of accrediting agencies.
That recognition is more than an honorary status: It gives the agencies the authority to serve as the gatekeepers for more than $100 billion of federal student financial aid that is distributed every year. But despite the high stakes, a question nags at many members of the group, called the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity: Who cares?
Committee members, who began their biannual meeting Tuesday, have the ability to give the department advice on which accreditors to recognize and which policies to adopt. But even then, they are hamstrung by federal law and regulations about the scope of that advice. They regularly bemoan their lack of final decision-making authority. They also have little real autonomy from the Education Department. They are heavily dependent on information from the department staff. And their recommendations are often ignored.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Federal-Panel-Tries-to/243488