\n<\/p>\n
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump called accreditation his \u201csecret weapon.\u201d Now, a year into his second term, education under secretary Nicholas Kent is the one wielding that weapon.<\/p>\n
In year one, the Trump administration sought to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion as part of accreditation standards and steered money toward new market entrants. But in year two, the federal government appears poised to ramp up its efforts to overhaul accreditation by rewriting current regulations this spring, as announced Monday.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Kent offered more insights into what lies ahead in remarks at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation\u2019s annual conference, held in Washington, D.C. Kent has previously accused accreditors of failing to hold flailing institutions accountable for poor student outcomes and cast such agencies as \u201ca tool for political and ideological enforcement,\u201d and he repeated those themes Tuesday as he laid out plans for the coming accreditation overhaul.<\/p>\n
In a 35-plus-minute speech at CHEA, Kent cast accreditation as fundamentally broken.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to start by saying a bold and uncomfortable truth: Accreditation today is no longer a reliable indicator of the gold standard of education,\u201d Kent said. <\/p>\n
His rhetoric carried similar refrains to past comments as he railed against what he called the \u201caccreditation-industrial complex.\u201d He argued that such agencies have become a monopoly, particularly at the programmatic level, and that they have \u201chave not lived up to their responsibility.\u201d He also accused them of colluding to block new entrants from the market. Throughout his remarks, he emphasized the need for a strong return on investment for students.<\/p>\n
Kent also attributed the plunging public approval of higher education to poor student outcomes, for which he blamed accreditors and their failure to hold colleges accountable. He argued that failures by accrediting bodies necessitated overdue reforms \u201cto make the system more accountable, more competitive and more merit-based for students, families and the American taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The under secretary said the Department of Education plans \u201cto negotiate on a wide range of topics\u201d during the upcoming rule-making session in order to both simplify and strengthen accreditation. Priorities will include reducing the regulatory burden for accreditors, streamlining the recognition process, putting greater emphasis on student outcomes and stamping out \u201canticompetitive behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent ultimately invited accreditors to join in reform efforts or prepare to be left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope many of you will begin making these changes, understanding that the winds of reform\u00a0<\/strong>are shifting and change is on the move,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cWe want to work with you all to move forward, together\u2026 As someone once told me, it\u2019s better to be at the table than on the menu\u2014and trust me, we\u2019d much rather have you grabbing\u00a0a seat than getting served.\u201d<\/p>\n While Kent blasted the status quo, he also applauded some accreditors for recent changes.<\/p>\n The under secretary credited new leadership at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges for \u201cimplementing major policy updates that streamline processes without adding new compliance burden\u201d and approving a 90-hour bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n Kent also nodded to actions at the Higher Learning Commission in endorsing a new framework for short-term credential programs, recent ROI-focused work by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, and the WASC Senior College and University Commission for dropping what he referred to as \u201cdivisive DEI standards from accreditation criteria\u201d last fall.<\/p>\n He also told accreditors that his door \u201cis always open\u201d and encouraged them to share the changes they are undertaking as the Education Department begins its overhaul efforts.<\/p>\n Kent\u2019s comments lingered at the CHEA conference long after he left the room. Speakers both agreed and disagreed with him in subsequent panels as they grappled with his statements. <\/p>\n Heather Perfetti, president of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and chair of the Council of Recognized Accreditation Commissions, noted there was room for common ground with ED. She said accreditors \u201cagree that we all should operate with integrity, accountability\u201d and transparency\u2014themes that Kent emphasized in his speech. She also credited Kent for highlighting various initiatives, which she said showed he is listening and learning.<\/p>\n \u201cHis door is open and he wants to hear from us,\u201d Perfetti said.<\/p>\n Some stressed the need for accreditors to remain independent amid fierce political winds.<\/p>\n \u201cAccreditation should not become a policeman in imposing a particular ideology\u2014any ideology, doesn\u2019t matter what ideology it is,\u201d argued Sonny Ramaswamy, who served as president of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities from 2018 through early 2025.<\/p>\n Others expressed a desire for a more civil partnership with ED amid Kent\u2019s fiery rhetoric.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re going to be partners with the Department of Education, if they want to have meaningful, thoughtful dialogue with us, could we ask that they stop calling us names, calling us a cartel or a monopoly?\u201d said Leah Matthews, executive director and CEO of the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump called accreditation his \u201csecret weapon.\u201d Now, a year into his second term, education under secretary Nicholas Kent is the one wielding that weapon. In year one, the Trump administration sought to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion as part of accreditation standards and steered money toward new market<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[12205,2432,22591,1957,495,920,3850],"class_list":{"0":"post-43065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-accreditors","9":"tag-blames","10":"tag-chea","11":"tag-eds","12":"tag-higher","13":"tag-kent","14":"tag-woes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Accreditors Respond<\/h2>\n