In today’s Higher Education and Workforce Investment hearing on accountability, Committee Republicans emphasized that greater accountability is crucial to serving all students. “Today’s postsecondary education system looks a bit like a tangled ball of yarn. From rising tuition and student debt to lagging innovation and low graduation rates, every problem is interconnected," Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) said in his opening statement. “But if we strengthen our accountability in higher education and reform accreditation to focus on quality and results, we can begin to restore the balance of flexibility for institutions to innovate and accountability for students and taxpayers."
The accountability triad, responsible for ensuring high-quality higher education institutions and programs, consists of three entities: the federal government, states, and accreditation agencies. Dr. Nicholas Hillman, Associate Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained accreditors’ role in the accountability triad.
“Accreditation is designed to assure a minimal level of educational quality and that colleges are conducting themselves in ways consistent with the accrediting body’s goals. These goals vary by accreditor but tend to focus on quality improvement, student learning outcomes, and ensuring the institution has adequate financial and human resources to achieve its educational mission," Dr. Hillman said.
Mr. Noe Ortega, Deputy Secretary and Commissioner of Postsecondary and Higher Education for the state of Pennsylvania, testified what states should do to strengthen their role in the higher education accountability triad.
“The push toward a more concerted effort by the various regulating bodies of the triad to strengthening accountability in higher education will require states to be more intentional about adopting a baseline of common standards that can be used to create a shared understanding about the meaning of state authorization, and ultimately lend more legitimacy to the state authorization process," Mr. Ortega said.
Ms. Melissa Emrey-Arras from the Government Accountability Office testified that when many student borrowers are in long-term forbearance, it’s difficult to hold schools accountable for high student default rates.
“Schools are seldom held accountable for their students’ defaults, in part because of the high rate of borrowers in long-term forbearance... We found that over 260 additional schools-receiving a combined $2.7 billion in Direct Loans and Pell Grants in academic year 2016-2017-would potentially have had a default rate high enough to put them at risk of losing access to federal student aid programs," Ms. Emrey-Arras said.
Ms. Barbara Brittingham, president of New England’s accreditation agency, explained from the accreditors’ perspective how the law should be reformed to promote accountability, flexibility, and innovation.
“We believe in allowing for more flexibility and innovation in the HEA [Higher Education Act] so that institutions can focus on outcomes that matter most to their students, workforce partners, and communities. These are challenging times in higher education, and we hope that the re-authorization includes provision for accreditors to innovate and experiment to ensure it remains a robust and responsive member of the triad, dealing with issues and challenges that may not yet be before us," Ms. Brittingham concluded.
Committee Republicans will continue seeking ways to improve higher education accountability for every student, promote flexibility for every student, and encourage innovation to foster the success of every student.
