APLU Statement on U.S. Department of Education’s New Efforts on Risk-Based Accreditation

Washington, DC – Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) President Peter McPherson today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s executive order on risk-based accreditation.

“Our association has long argued that risk-based accreditation makes good sense. We applaud the U.S. Department of Education’s statement as a first step that should pave the way toward making risk-based accreditation a reality. Higher education institutions that have a long and consistent track record of strong academic programs should not have to regularly go through the same extensive and expensive review process as schools with weak programs and poor student outcomes.

“The accreditation process is often quite burdensome and requires an extraordinary amount of staff time that pulls senior administrators away from other important responsibilities on campus. Yet, strong academic institutions currently have to go through the same extensive process each time and generally end up being reaccredited to no one’s surprise.

“We have not had the opportunity to study the other actions and steps the Department of Education will be taking, but from what we understand, they are very positive and constructive.”