In the world of education accreditation is everything. Accreditation is supposed to show that a school’s programs/course work and business practices are at a certain standard. There are two main types of accreditation: national and regional. Regional has always been viewed as the higher standard of the two with national being more for tech schools or trade schools.
Normally if schools lose their accreditation it means that they were doing something really wrong, but who makes sure that the accreditation agencies are doing the right thing and are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing? I will admit that in my career working in higher ed there have been many times where I questioned just how well accreditation agencies actually do their job. When I worked in for profit education I will fully admit that I worked at more than one school that should have had their accreditation revoked but the group they were accredited by but it never happened. There are a lot of schools known within the industry as diploma mills because they had out degrees and certificates like they are candy without real academic rigor and yet they have accreditation.
Finally, something has happened to one of these agencies. ACICS (Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools) is no longer recognized by USCIS and the Department of Labor.[i] ACICS has known about this process for a while since the process to terminate them has been in the process for several years.[ii] The reasons for this was “among other things, that ACICS failed to demonstrate it could effectively evaluate, monitor, and enforce quality standards for schools”….these are very common issues in education in general since there are always arguments on how best to gather this data and what areas should be focused on.[iii] In a way this is a BS reason because this is so debated, but I at least like that they were being called out for not really enforcing “quality standards”. I think a lot more schools need to be evaluated on quality standards because people in the industry know that not all schools hold the same standards even though they have managed to maintain their accreditation. Schools will have 18 months to try and get accreditation through another agency.[iv] The schools that had this as their only accreditation agency will be in the most trouble.
This is a huge issue for all students attending these schools especially international students. International students will now be forced to scramble to find new schools to transfer to in order to keep their F1 visas. This is great for other schools because they will have tons of international students knocking at their doors that for the most part pay higher rates then students that have residential status. The bad part is also on students because any credits that they earned at their old schools may not transfer in to their new schools. This basically means that the students are being punished for what their previous schools did. This is where I am all for higher regulation of schools and accreditation agencies because it is the students that suffer when they drop the ball.
If
you are an international student impacted by these changes, SEVP should be
reaching out to you directly to the email that you have in their system.[v] This is the email address
that the DSO put on your I20 when they first issued it to you.
Here
is a list of some of the schools impacted by this:[vi]
Agape’
College of Business and Science
Bay
Atlantic University
Bergin
College of Canine Studies
Best
Care College
Bethesda
College of Health Sciences
Beverly
Hills Design Institute
Broadway
College
California
Aeronautical University
California
University of Management and Science
Empire
College
Fairfax
University
Gwinnett
College
Gwinnett
Institute
Hope
College of Arts & Sciences
Jose
Maria Vargas University
Living
Arts College High Point
Merit
University
MIU
City University Miami
National
Latino Education Institute
New
York Institute of English and Business
Nobel
University
Pittsburgh
Career Institute
San
Diego Global Knowledge University
San
Ignacio University
Schiller
International University
Silicon
Valley University
Southern
States University
Southern
Technical College
Stratford
University
Suncoast
College of Health
Texas
Health and Science University
United
International College
University
of North America
Westfield
Business School
Additional
Readings For People Who Want to Know More
“What
College Accreditation Changes Mean for Students”- https://blog.ed.gov/2022/08/what-college-accreditation-changes-mean-for-students/
“Deputy
Secretary’s Decision August 2022” - https://www2.ed.gov/documents/acics/materials/depsecretary-order-matter-of-accrediting-council-for-independent-colleges-schools.pdf
“USCIS:
ACICS Loss of Recognition May Affect Certain Students, H-1B, and I-140
Applicants” - https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/customs-immigration/uscis-acics-loss-of-recognition-may-affect-certain-students-h-1b-and-i-140-applicants/
“Stratford
University closure followed several years of problems with accreditor” – This article
is good because it shows how in real life students are impacted by this
situation. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/10/19/stratford-university-closure-followed-several-years-of-problems-with-accreditor/
“Was
the Education Department really to blame for Stratford University closing?” –
This article points out additional issues that these schools had like “rampant
plagiarism and poor online education.” https://www.highereddive.com/news/was-the-education-department-really-to-blame-for-stratford-university-closi/633459/
“What’s
next for colleges accredited by ACICS?” – The overview of this one is that the
schools are going to be under close watch, but I think all of them have a lot they
need to clean up. https://www.highereddive.com/news/whats-next-for-colleges-accredited-by-acics/631091/
“Education
Secretary: Some for-profit colleges view students as ‘prey’” – I hate to say
this, but this is not limited to for-profit schools. All students are ‘prey’
for schools and this is why they become just a number once they get enrolled. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/education-secretary-some-for-profit-colleges-view-students-as-prey-195820523.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALLm2GUxo8o4gB99HxNKEVOT_kMx4kJkAKwOFEgUQmeSO8H2lnn92h7H2TNsM0isTq7Z4soYb8xDblTxO_BVroRgLfIp3zaikrZfI0VoUZBmu7sS9nI5r84p9yP61J3ZXI5KPXrRNDnFtVcEuw5ZnmDZ1w3S--fqzsCGJ-yBF1G-
Works
Cited
ACICS. “ACICS Member
Directory Search.” ACICS Member Directory. Accessed November 4, 2022.
http://personify.acics.org/ACICSMemberDirectory.aspx?page=1.
“News & Insights: ACICS
Schools Are No Longer Recognized By USCIS.” Patel Law Group. Accessed November
4, 2022.
https://www.patellegal.com/acics-schools-are-no-longer-recognized-by-uscis/#:~:text=On%20August%2019%2C%202022%2C%20the,applying%20for%20STEM%20OPT%20extensions.
“Termination of the
Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized
Accrediting Agency.” Termination of the Accrediting Council for Independent
Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized Accrediting Agency | U.S. Department
of Education. Accessed November 4, 2022. https://www.ed.gov/acics.
[i]
“News & Insights: ACICS Schools Are No Longer Recognized By USCIS.” Patel
Law Group. Accessed November 4, 2022. https://www.patellegal.com/acics-schools-are-no-longer-recognized-by-uscis/#:~:text=On%20August%2019%2C%202022%2C%20the,applying%20for%20STEM%20OPT%20extensions.
[ii] “Termination
of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized
Accrediting Agency.” Termination of the Accrediting Council for Independent
Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized Accrediting Agency | U.S. Department
of Education. Accessed November 4, 2022. https://www.ed.gov/acics.
[iii] “Termination
of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized
Accrediting Agency.” Termination of the Accrediting Council for Independent
Colleges and Schools as an ED Recognized Accrediting Agency | U.S. Department
of Education.
[iv]
Ibid, U.S. Department of Education.
[v]
“News & Insights: ACICS Schools Are No Longer Recognized By USCIS.” Patel
Law Group.
[vi] ACICS.
“ACICS Member Directory Search.” ACICS Member Directory. Accessed November 4,
2022. http://personify.acics.org/ACICSMemberDirectory.aspx?page=1.
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