Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced a new six-state accreditation group that aims to combat concerns that higher education accreditation is inefficient, ineffective, and biased.
“This endeavor will introduce a new accreditor into the marketplace,” DeSantis said at a news conference at Florida Atlantic University.
“It will upend the monopoly of the woke accreditation cartels, and it will provide institutions with an alternative … focused on student achievement rather than the ideological fads that have so permeated those accrediting bodies.”
The Commission for Public Higher Education will consist of university systems from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Texas A&M University systems.
The commission will prioritize student achievement, measurable outcomes, efficiency, “pursuing truth,” and “preparing students to be citizens of our republic,” DeSantis said, adding the commission will establish “rigorous, transparent and adoptable outcome-based standards.”
BREAKING: New six-state higher ed accreditation group announced Thursday. The Commission for Public Higher Education will consist of systems from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Texas A&M University systems.
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Complete details on the commission remain in the works and have yet to be released.
“Thursday’s announcement didn’t offer many specifics — including about how the organization would work, when it might be operational, and whether the campuses in participating university systems would even seek accreditation from the new commission,” the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
In late April, the Trump administration put out an executive order, “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education,” to overhaul the higher education accreditation system and ensure institutions provide high-quality education free from ideological bias and discrimination.
The order in part directed the Education Department to “resume recognizing new accreditors to increase competition and accountability” and “increase the consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness of the accreditor recognition review process.”
Currently, the Chronicle reported, “Obtaining recognition from the federal government, which is required for it to serve as a gatekeeper for federal student aid, could take years. Under current regulations, a new accreditor must demonstrate its standards and processes for two years before it can be considered for recognition.”
A news release stated the new commission “will create a first-of-its-kind accreditation model for public higher education institutions.”
“Collaborating with neighboring states lets us put resources where they make the biggest difference, and I look forward to the success of an effort that increases accountability and drives meaningful innovation,” said University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue in the release.
Wade Maki, faculty assembly chair and a philosophy professor at UNC Greensboro, told Inside Higher Ed the effort to launch a new accreditor has “great potential” to cut through the “bureaucracy in some of our accreditation requirements.”
He told the outlet it was unfortunate DeSantis took such a sharp political tone in his announcement, but the scholar is optimistic in the pathway toward improving accreditation.
MORE: Congress urged to ban DEI accreditation standards as ABA drops diversity mandate
IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: Gov. Ron DeSantis announces new group / The Florida Channel
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