‘Federalizing Accreditation’
Standards may include student outcomes, but should the government or accrediting agencies implement the change?
By Charles Dervarics
As part of its reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Congress is grappling with potential changes to one of the most vexing issues facing colleges that enroll a large number of low-income students: accreditation.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has called for changes that would base accreditation on outcomes such as graduation rates and student achievement. Congress, in turn, has responded with calls for the department to wait until it can address the issue through the long-delayed HEA reauthorization.
For those who focus on the needs of at-risk students, a go-slow approach may be best — particularly if reformers take time to examine the challenges facing different types of higher education institutions.
“If you compare the University of Texas at Austin to Houston Community College, they’re going to look very different,” says Dr. Saran Donahoo, an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University who specializes in higher education administration and
race issues.
An open-enrollment institution or any other college that focuses heavily on low-income students simply has different needs and priorities than a traditional four-year flagship research institution. “You just aren’t able to do the same things,” Donahoo says.
In addition, there often is misunderstanding about what to expect from institutions that focus on low-income students. “Once you serve larger numbers of students, [accreditors] expect you to offer everything a flagship institution has to offer,” she says.
But should prime responsibility for changing accreditation go to the federal government or to colleges and universities? Accrediting groups say the latter is better equipped to make these decisions.
“The Department of Education and the council both agree that student outcomes need to be included. We just have a difference about how to get there,” says Richard Porter, the spokesman for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation in Washington.
