The Federal Government Cracks Down on Accreditors, Especially ACICS

[sanantone]

ACICS accredits career schools, and I believe most of them are for-profit. They have accredited some of the worst offenders for misleading students, falsifying records, and offering predatory loans. NACIQI has recommended to the U.S. Department of Education to revoke recognition of the accreditor. This would mean that none of the schools accredited by ACICS will qualify for financial aid. Considering how expensive these school tend to be, they can't survive without students who receive financial aid. Also, their accreditation won't be considered legitimate. ACICS has 90 days to appeal. I can't say that I will be sad to see them go. Their schools will probably flock to ACCSC, but I would like to see that accreditor gone, too.

NACIQI recommended that the American Bar Association not be allowed to accredit new members for a year. They are also keeping the American Psychological Association on watch.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016...ccreditors

[jsd]

I feel bad for the duped students, but I certainly don't feel bad for predatory for profits.

Aren't like 99% of ABA approved schools regionally accredited? No financial aid impact there for the most part. ABA would likely get around it by granting "provisional" status for that year they can't actually approve, and students would still be bar-eligible. It'd still be amusing to see the ABA knocked down a peg.

[clep3705]

I don't understand the issue with APA accreditation. According to http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/abou...ation.aspx,

"APA-accredited doctoral graduate programs must be housed in an institution that has regional accreditation."

Since an APA accredited program is also regionally accredited, I don't see why there is any concern over APA accreditation. I know very little about the APA.

[Old Guy]

Isn't ACICS the largest accreditor in the US? it would be very disruptive to tens if not hundreds of thousands of students to withdraw recognition. The credentials would not be without value as it is also recognized by CHEA. The institutions would still have recognized accreditation. Personally I think the public would be better served if the Department of Education were ended.

[sanantone]

CHEA has revoked recognition of ACICS, I believe. There was a letter posted on the other forum. The Department of Education only controls access to financial. If ACICS is letting a large number of schools get away with fraudulent practices, then it is the responsibility of the government to stop giving tax dollars to its member schools. ACICS schools receive nearly $5 billion each year. It is up to individual employers and state governments whether or not they want to depend on recognition from the Department of Education and/or CHEA. The market controls how accreditation is viewed. The government is just the gatekeeper to public financial aid. There is one programmatic accreditor in school psychology that is neither recognized by the government nor CHEA, but the education sector is still accepting of it.