DeSantis Sues Feds Over Accreditation Of Colleges

June 22, 2023 Education, Republicans

Florida Politics reports:

Gov. Ron DeSantis is opening another legal battle against the federal government, this time over the power of private accreditation agencies over state universities. “In America you need to be accountable to somebody, and right now they’re accountable to nobody,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa. “We believe we have a great chance of succeeding in this lawsuit.”

The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Sec. Miguel Cardona claims the accreditation agencies have too much sway over governing state universities. DeSantis claimed the accrediting agencies lean liberal and want to impose that ideology on the schools they oversee, even though they aren’t elected or appointed by elected officials. “They’re pursuing their agenda,” DeSantis said. “The question is: Whose agenda should ultimately govern?”

The Orlando Sentinel reports: 



Under federal law, the private accrediting agencies decide which universities and colleges are eligible for approximately $112 billion in federal funding. The agencies provide a standard of requirements that universities must follow to maintain accreditation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACS, oversees the accreditation of colleges and universities in Florida.

However, Florida passed a law last year that prohibits colleges and universities from being accredited by the same agency or association for consecutive accreditation cycles. It also allows universities to sue accreditors for damages if they believe they had been negatively affected.

DeSantis cited as an example that SACS “threatened the accreditation of Florida State University” in 2021 when Richard Corcoran, then the state’s commissioner of education, was a candidate to be the next president of the school. The accrediting agency said Corcoran’s candidacy posed a potential conflict of interest if he failed to resign as schools commissioner.

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