The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a non-partisan congressional watchdog agency, criticized National Accreditation agencies for making few useful distinctions between colleges with weak student outcomes and their counterparts with high outcomes assessment. TRANSLATION:IT's OK to be mediocre or poor when it comes to compliance with accreditation standards. Just sayin'.
"For-profit colleges and the national accreditors that evaluate them lie at the heart of the problem. The GAO found that in general, accreditors of for-profit colleges were more likely to sanction on colleges with student outcomes in the top 25% than they were to terminate or suspend colleges in the bottom quarter —a counter-intuitive outcome that’s hard to figure.
The GAO’s evaluation of the quality of ED’s oversight of higher education was decidedly negative — criticism that comes from a federal agency — and was endorsed by a congressman with a decades-long record as an advocate for students. Retiring California Democrat George Miller, a critic of for-profit colleges, echoed the concerns of the report, which he requested when he was ranking member on the House Committee on Education.
“Congress has tasked accreditors with evaluating the academic strength of colleges and universities, and the American people expect accreditors to hold colleges accountable for student success,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.). “This report raises serious questions about whether we are watching the watchdogs closely enough.” Read more at http://www.mainstreet.com/article/general-accountability-office-rips-ed-on-oversight-of-national-accreditation-agencies