Education Department Strips Authority of Largest For-Profit Accreditor — from usnews.com by Lauren Camera
The potential death blow follows intense federal scrutiny of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
Excerpt:
The Department of Education officially stripped the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools – the largest accrediting agency of for-profit colleges and universities – of its authority Thursday, handing down the final blow in a long controversy over the council’s ability to be an effective watchdog for students and billions of taxpayer dollars.
“I am terminating the department’s recognition of ACICS as a national recognized accrediting agency,” Emma Vadehra, chief of staff to the education secretary, wrote in a letter to the organization. “ACICS’s track record does not inspire confidence that it can address all of the problems effectively.”
The decision comes after a federal panel voted to shut ACICS down in June amid intense criticism of the council for its loose oversight of educational institutions. ACICS was the accrediting agency for now-shuttered Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute campuses.