Last week, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., pushed her bill to reform higher ed accreditation.
At the end of last month, Wilson introduced “Quality Higher Education Act” which would, according to her office, include “measures that would require accreditors to set rigorous standards and performance benchmarks based on completion and workforce participation for the schools they oversee; disaggregate student data to make it clear whether colleges are serving all students well, including minority students and those from low-income families; and require accreditors to be more transparent about how they evaluate schools.”
Noting that only accredited schools are eligible to disperse federal financial aid, Wilson pointed out that 13 million students annually receive around $130 billion in federal aid but only 58 percent of them complete their degrees within six years.
“When students make tough decisions about what college to attend, they trust that if a school is accredited, it will be able to provide them with the skills and knowledge needed for their chosen career path,” Wilson said last week. “It’s crucial that all schools meet the same high-quality standards to retain accreditation, and that if they’re not adequately serving all student populations, it’s clear to them and prospective students what they must do to improve.
“Given the skyrocketing cost of higher education and unprecedented levels of student debt, the stakes have never been higher,” she added.
While several groups, including the Center for American Progress, Third Way, New America and Higher Learning Advocates, have thrown their support behind the bill, Wilson has not reeled in any cosponsors and there is no companion bill over in the U.S. Senate.
Wilson will be able to continue to advocate for her legislation which was sent to the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee on which she sits.
