A bill being considered by the Florida Legislature would require all of the state’s public colleges and universities to change accreditors within the next decade.
In practice, though, requiring colleges to change accreditors would create an enormous bureaucratic burden for the colleges, take up to two years of staff time, and cost more than $10,000 per institution.
At the end of the process, an accreditor could simply say no to the application, leaving the institution with its existing accreditor. Accreditation by a federally recognized group is required for colleges to receive federal student-loan and Pell Grant monies from students.
“They can’t just automatically go to another accreditor. It’s not like just going from Kroger’s to Publix when you can’t find something you want,” said Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges.
More than 100 campuses in Florida are accredited by the Southern Association, including the 12 public universities and 28 state colleges, along with dozens of private colleges. But the association and Wheelan herself have come under scrutiny from some state lawmakers and members of the Florida Board of Governors because of the association’s recent inquiries about political interference and conflicts of interest at the state’s two best-known universities.
The bill comes on the heals of SACS (the accreditor) warning the the University of Florida (in November) asking it to respond to reports that it had prevented several faculty members from serving as expert witnesses in a voting-rights trial. If those allegations were true, the conduct could violate the accreditor’s standards for academic freedom and rules against undue political influence.
In May, SACS sent a letter to the FL Board of Governors, which oversees the public university system, raising questions about the search for a new president at Florida State University. At the time, Richard Corcoran, Florida’s education commissioner, was a candidate for that position but also a member of the board, which could violate the association’s conflict-of-interest rules.
Republicans say they’re just trying to give colleges and universities more options when it comes to finding an accrediting agency; but others see something far more insidious: an effort to break the influence of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which has repeatedly snubbed efforts by state politicians to influence the outcomes of major decisions.
The House’s Post-Secondary Education Committee heard the bill last. It's Chair Amber Mariano say they’re just trying to give colleges and universities more options when it comes to finding an accrediting agency; but others see something far more insidious: an effort to break the influence of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which has repeatedly snubbed efforts by state politicians to influence the outcomes of major decisions.
A Florida Senate education committee will take up the bill this week.