Accrediting agencies are tasked with providing a level of quality assurance for higher education. With an accreditor’s stamp of approval, colleges unlock access to billions of dollars in Title IV funding—federal loans, grants, and campus-based aid. Unfortunately, accreditors do not consistently deliver on their role and fail to hold institutions accountable for poor student outcomes.
This system needs significant reform. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni and Third Way agree that the following five principles should be prioritized by policymakers in improving accreditation to better support the interests of students and taxpayers.
1. Quality assurance is bipartisan—accreditation reform needs to be, too.
Despite declining confidence in higher education driven by concerns related to cost, value, and political bias, quality assurance enjoys broad, bipartisan support among voters. Overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents want federal and state governments to evaluate colleges and universities and would supportreforms to increase transparency and accountability at these institutions. While both parties have made someattempts at structural reform, true bipartisanefforts have struggled to advance.
