ACICS Should Not Regain Its Ability to Grant Access to Federal Financial Aid – Center for American Progress
On March 1, 2018, the Center for American Progress Postsecondary Education team submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and School’s application to regain its ability to grant access to federal financial aid. This column adapts these comments, which can be found in full here.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Education ruled that one of the country’s largest college watchdogs had been so derelict in its duty that it could no longer be trusted to grant access to federal financial aid. This agency—the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)—had repeatedly honored institutions facing legal challenges, set weak standards for student outcomes, and faced a host of other problems. The move meant that while ACICS could continue accrediting colleges, having approval from this agency no longer granted schools’ access to federal financial aid.
Now, ACICS is trying to get back into U.S. federal aid programs. This comes fewer than two years after losing access and as most of the colleges it oversaw are well on their way to finding new agencies to approve them. ACICS is currently scheduled to go before a federal panel of independent experts in May, which will make a nonbinding recommendation to the secretary of education about whether the agency should be able to grant financial aid again. This process also includes a review by Department of Education staff to see if ACICS meets federal requirements. The goal is to wrap up this whole exercise by June 12, 2018, after which any ACICS school that does not have accreditation elsewhere loses its temporary ability to receive federal financial aid.