USDE Scope Change Review – ON HOLD


Commission on Accreditation Director, Randall Bell recently received a telephone call from our US Department of Education staff reviewer, Bill James. Here is the headline: ABHE’s scheduled December 2008 scope expansion (graduate & programmatic accreditation recognition) review is indefinitely on hold. Here’s why:
  • The long-overdue reauthorization of the Higher Education Amendments was finally passed by both the US House and Senate in July. President Bush signed the legislation in August. 
  • The legislation replaces the current Secretary-of-Education-appointed National Advisory Council for Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which reviews and advises the US Secretary of Education regarding accrediting agency recognition, renewal and scope expansion petitions. A new NACIQI (perhaps with a new name) will be constituted, comprised of 18 members. Six members each will be appointed by the US House, the US Senate, and the Secretary of Education. 
  • This being an election year, the constitution of a new NACIQI will await the installation of a new government. How long it will take after that to get a US Secretary of Education appointed, get NACIQI committee appointments from the House, Senate, and executive branches, and get the recognition/review process regenerated is anybody’s guess.
  • Meanwhile, we have no recourse but to wait until a new timetable and, perhaps, even new regulations and new review criteria are formulated. Bill James is continuing to review our petition and has asked for more documentation (surprise!) which we in good faith will expeditiously supply. Stay tuned for further information. 

Doubtless you are wondering what this means for ABHE and our member institutions:
  • Do we have to stop offering graduate and programmatic accreditation? No. ABHE does not have to obtain USDE’s permission to accredit graduate education or biblical/ministry programs within more comprehensive institutions. The USDE review process is a recognition process, predicated upon the notion that we are already engaged in such activities and can demonstrate that we have commensurate and credible standards, review processes, training, and peer recognition of our work. Moreover, we have already received official Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognition of our scope as a comprehensive (all higher education levels) and programmatic accrediting agency. So we will continue to operate at the expanded scope and to strengthen our training and review processes accordingly. 
  • How are ABHE members going to be affected by these developments? US Title IV student financial aid eligibility is contingent upon accreditation by a USDE-recognized agency. Students at ABHE member institutions, by virtue of their ABHE accreditation, are eligible for such aid programs as Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, etc. Since our current recognition is limited to undergraduate education, graduate students at institutions for whom ABHE is the only USDE-recognized accreditor would not be eligible for some financial aid programs (primarily federally subsidized student loans, since Pell Grants are for undergraduates only). The majority of ABHE’s graduate level institutions also hold regional or ATS accreditation. Their graduate students already enjoy Title IV eligibility via accreditation by these gatekeeper agencies. We have contacted the very few institutions who depend solely on ABHE for recognized accreditation to apprise them of these developments and explore how they can best be served in light of this delay. 
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