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Comment to Middle States Commission on Higher Education Regarding Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures Article

Comment to Middle States Commission on Higher Education Regarding Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures

This public comment, submitted by the Center for American Progress, asks the Middle States Council on Higher Education to clarify its proposed policy for reviewing its member institutions' arrangements with third-party providers.

The Accreditation Reform Act of 2020 Article
College graduates in Long Beach, California, wait their turn to walk the stage, May 2019. (Getty/Brittany Murray)

The Accreditation Reform Act of 2020

A new proposal from the House Committee on Education and Labor strengthens guardrails across the higher education system and puts students and taxpayers over special interests.

Viviann Anguiano, Antoinette Flores

Closing a Major Loophole in Default Rate Accountability Article
College students use the learning commons at a private university in Baltimore, October 2012. (Getty/Buyenlarge/Carol M. Highsmith/)

Closing a Major Loophole in Default Rate Accountability

The recently proposed College Affordability Act can help to hold colleges accountable when students default on their loans.

Ben Miller

The Unwatched Watchdogs Report
The podium stands empty prior to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' arrival to deliver remarks to U.S. Department of Education staff on her first day as secretary in Washington, D.C., February 8, 2017. (Getty/AFP/Jim Watson)

The Unwatched Watchdogs

The Department of Education must strengthen its oversight over accrediting agencies to ensure that they are keeping low-quality educational providers from accessing federal financial aid.

Antoinette Flores

How the Trump Administration Is Undoing College Accreditation Report
An empty study space is seen in a university in Maryland, January 2015.

How the Trump Administration Is Undoing College Accreditation

Regulatory changes would weaken the ability of accreditors to serve as watchdogs over colleges and remove mechanisms to hold accreditors responsible for oversight.

Antoinette Flores

A Quality Guarantee for Today’s Students: Recommendations to Improve College Accreditation Article
A college student waits for her commencement ceremony to begin in San Jose, California, on December 19, 2018. (Getty/The Mercury News/Randy Vazquez)

A Quality Guarantee for Today’s Students: Recommendations to Improve College Accreditation

In the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Congress should take action to improve the U.S. college accreditation system and ensure that all students are guaranteed a high-quality education that meets their needs.

Antoinette Flores

Fact Sheet: What Happens When Accreditors Sanction Colleges Fact Sheet
Undergraduate students walk to class at their university in College Park, Maryland, December 2017. (Getty/Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post)

Fact Sheet: What Happens When Accreditors Sanction Colleges

Inconsistency in the sanctioning of poor-performing colleges across accrediting agencies undermines the college oversight system.

Antoinette Flores

How College Accreditors Miss the Mark on Student Outcomes Report
College graduates attend their commencement ceremony in May 2017, Los Angeles, CA. (Getty/Jerritt Clark)

How College Accreditors Miss the Mark on Student Outcomes

The opportunity to ensure strong student outcomes in postsecondary education exists—accreditors just have to be willing to take it.

Antoinette Flores

A Second Status Update on ACICS Colleges Article
College students take a test in a classroom. (Getty/Caiaimage, Sam Edwards)

A Second Status Update on ACICS Colleges

With a June deadline looming, most of the defunct accreditor's schools are on a path to gain approval elsewhere.

Ben Miller, Antoinette Flores

Improving Federal Accountability for Higher Education Report

Improving Federal Accountability for Higher Education

This report outlines seven proposed principles to improve U.S. Department of Education efforts to protect the $125 billion annual investment in federal financial aid.

Ben Miller

What’s Up With ACICS Colleges? Article
A sign rests on a facade at Lincoln Technical Institute, in Somerville, Massachusetts, June 2016. (AP/Steven Senne)

What’s Up With ACICS Colleges?

Months after the U.S. Department of Education terminated the accreditor’s tie to federal aid, here’s what’s happening to the 269 schools with ACICS accreditation.

Ben Miller

A Reply-All Email Error Reveals Problems in College Transparency Article
Students walk across a campus for class, February 2017. (AP/Bebeto Matthews)

A Reply-All Email Error Reveals Problems in College Transparency

An email error broke the news to students that their college is in financial trouble, but it didn’t have to be that way. College accreditors should be more transparent.

Antoinette Flores

Getting What We Pay for on Quality Assurance Report

Getting What We Pay for on Quality Assurance

It should be no surprise that access to federal higher education dollars for financial aid is not secure if accreditors have little to spend on gatekeeping.

Antoinette Flores

Accreditors Must Prioritize Student Outcomes in Measuring College Quality Article
The U.S. Department of Education stands in Washington, D.C. (Flickr/ameadows)

Accreditors Must Prioritize Student Outcomes in Measuring College Quality

Last week, the Center for American Progress submitted public comments to the U.S. Department of Education with concerns about accreditors lack of focus on student outcomes.

Antoinette Flores

Watching the Watchdogs Report
Inconsistency in the sanctioning of poor-performing colleges across accrediting agencies undermines the college oversight system.

Watching the Watchdogs

Inconsistency in the sanctioning of poor-performing colleges across accrediting agencies undermines the college oversight system.

Antoinette Flores

ACICS Must Go Report
The failures of ACICS also raises questions about the viability and integrity of the overall accreditation system.

ACICS Must Go

The largest national accreditation agency is a deeply troubled organization that should no longer serve as a gatekeeper to federal financial aid.

Ben Miller

Hooked on Accreditation: A Historical Perspective Report
Students wait outside Everest College in Industry, California, hoping to get their transcriptions and information on loan forgiveness and transferring credits to other schools, April 28, 2015, following the collapse of Corinthian Colleges. (AP/Christine Armario)

Hooked on Accreditation: A Historical Perspective

After more than six decades and repeated attempts at reform, accreditors are still struggling to fulfill their gatekeeping role and protect our nation's students.

Antoinette Flores

Up to the Job? Report
Empty desks are seen in a classroom in Louisville, Kentucky, 2006. (AP/Brian Bohannon)

Up to the Job?

A new CAP analysis shows that accreditation agency ACICS—along with many other national accreditors—is not sufficiently vetting the institutions that it approves to offer federal student loans.

Ben Miller

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