The news comes after the Council for Higher Education Accreditation found the national accreditor out of compliance with nine of its standards for recognition.
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and School (ACICS), a troubled national accreditor that had its federal status revoked under the Obama administration, is no longer seeking recognition from the main private association that vets accreditors in the U.S., weakening its legitimacy in the higher education sector.
The announcement comes after a Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) committee recommended ACICS’ recognition with the association be denied.
Observers told Education Dive that ACICS’ move to withdraw puts new pressure on the U.S. Department of Education to once again take away its federal recognition, in light of the accreditor’s continued troubled finances and failures in monitoring its member institutions, problems the department flagged in November.