Department staff had proposed the sanction over how the accreditor handled oversight of two Art Institutes.
UPDATE: Oct. 27, 2020: The Higher Learning Commission will not face a year-long ban on accrediting new institutions, a top official at the U.S. Department of Education said in a letter to the accreditor Tuesday. Department staff recommended the sanction against the accreditor for how it handled oversight of two Art Institutes that were transferring from a for-profit college operator to the nonprofit Dream Center a few years ago.
The department’s accreditation advisory group voted in July to reject the staff’s recommended sanctions, though a senior department official would have the final say.
A department hearing in July (detailed in the story below) highlighted divisions within the department — as well as divergent interpretations of the accreditor’s rules and federal law, and whether they were being faithfully applied by HLC, followed by the schools and deferred to by the department.
In Tuesday’s letter, that senior official, Deputy Education Secretary Mitchell Zais, said “there were shortcomings to go around,” noting that while HLC’s policies were unclear, the Dream Center could have asked for clarification before closing the deal. Zais also agreed with department staff who said the accreditor was out of step with federal regulations when it agreed to approve the change in ownership upon the Institutes agreeing to give up accreditation for a time.