Quote:JUNE 7, 2010
By MELISSA KORN

Groups that accredit colleges and universities are facing new scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general urged department officials to curtail the authority of the nation's largest regional oversight group.

The inspector general's office found that the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools granted accreditation to a for-profit university despite what investigators considered the school's questionable practices in awarding credit hours to students.

The inspector general urged federal officials, in a final report released May 24, to "limit, suspend or terminate" the HLC's accrediting power.

Officials with the department said they were awaiting a response from the commission before making a decision.

The HLC has objected to the report's conclusions. Karen Solinski, the commission's vice president for legal and governmental affairs, said it has been working with the department on responding to suggested corrective actions. "We'll see where that process comes out," she said.

Many analysts doubt federal officials would take such extreme actions as those called for by the report. A loss of governmental recognition could put students at HLC's 1,000-plus schools in jeopardy of losing federal student aid. Colleges and universities need approval from government-recognized accreditors to participate in federal student-aid programs.

The report comes as the department is pushing for stronger oversight of for-profit higher education amid explosive growth in the sector. Robert Shireman, deputy undersecretary of education, told regulators in April that he feared accreditors didn't have the "analytical firepower" needed to fairly assess schools.

Colleges and universities pay accrediting agencies such as the HLC to evaluate educational activities, financial stability, governance and administrative structure.

Mr. Shireman likened accreditors to credit-rating agencies that gave top marks to underperforming securities amid the financial crisis and said the organizations have an "inherent conflict of interest," as they are funded by the educational institutions they are meant to critique.

The inspector general's report blasted the HLC for accrediting Career Education Corp.'s American Intercontinental University, even though HLC had previously expressed concerns about the school's credit-hour structure.

The report said HLC's failure to define what constitutes a credit hour allowed the university to inflate course value and, consequently, award students too much in federal student loans.

Jeff Leshay, a spokesman for Career Education, said American Intercontinental supports the accreditation process and that HLC's advisory committee found no violations in its recent review of the university.

Department officials said a newly reconstituted oversight body, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, would help correct problems in the accrediting process. The group has not met for two years because of a holdup in member nominations.

Quote:Department officials said a newly reconstituted oversight body, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, would help correct problems in the accrediting process.

Dennis Ruhl Wrote:Don't tell the inspector general that the Middle States Association accredits a school that gives 30 credits for a 90 minute exam.

Quote:In 2002, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a final management information report entitled, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ Accreditation Standards for Student Achievement and Program Length (ED-OIG/A09-C0016).  The review found that HLC’s standards that encompass student achievement and program length were general and did not include specific measures to be met by institutions.  The report stated that, as a result, HLC’s established standards inherently limited the agency’s ability to compare institutional performance and distinguish between compliant and noncompliant institutions.  We suggested that HLC develop standards that are sufficiently concrete and specific to permit it to determine whether an institution is compliant or noncompliant; describe the Carnegie formula in written guidance and explicitly state that institutions should use this method or submit written justification of any deviation; and provide guidance on documenting deviations from the Carnegie method.  HLC did not concur with our conclusions or our suggestions.