WASHINGTON ― A vote by an advisory panel to the Education Department could set the nation’s largest accreditor of for-profit colleges firmly on a path to closing its doors, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands of students at risk of losing access to federal financial aid.
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a group that oversees about 900 campuses, is under scrutiny for lax oversight of its schools. If the council is stripped of its federal recognition, those schools could lose their ability to participate in federal financial aid programs, such as student loans and Pell Grants.
The council’s schools received $4.7 billion in federal aid last year for its students.
At a meeting Thursday, an independent advisory committee to the Education Department will make a recommendation on whether to continue to recognize the council as an accrediting agency.
Last week, a staff recommendation from the department proposed withdrawing recognition of the council. “Its monitoring regime appears insufficient to deter widespread misconduct regarding placement, recruiting and admissions,” the report said.
The council had allowed Corinthian Colleges, one of the largest chains of for-profit colleges, to continue to receive accreditation even as it was being investigated for fraud. Corinthian sold many of its campuses, closed others, and filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell says many accrediting agencies are working hard to evaluate the quality of colleges. But some are not, he said in prepared remarks to the advisory panel, called the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity.
