Getting and keeping accreditation is critical for almost all colleges in the United States. Accreditation is third-party validation that a college meets minimum standards. Not only is institutional accreditation required for participation in federal student loan programs, but without accreditation, it is hard (if not impossible) to be authorized…

In a joint fact sheet, The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) and National Student Legal Defense Network (Student Defense) partnered to provide key facts about the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and how it can undermine student protections.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) can be used as an analytical framework for understanding the propagation of systemic racism within societal structures and institutions, particularly in community colleges. CRT provides insights into the structural nature of racism as an issue of individual prejudice and one built into society's fabric. However, many…

This article traces the evolution of higher education accreditation and the impact of modern partisan critiques that challenge its traditional values. For example, the Trump-led Department of Education (ED) introduced new rules resulting in the end of regional boundaries related to accreditation. Moreover, questions have emerged related to…

Higher education governance of community colleges is understudied. Driving an increased focus on community college coordination and oversight at the state level are the role of access from dual enrollment to adult learners, the need to smooth the transfer function of community colleges, jobs requiring educational attainment beyond high school, and…

Accreditation is one of the three tickets that every college in America must punch if it wants access to federal student aid (FSA) programs for its students. The current regulatory regime for postsecondary institutions forces each college wanting to participate in FSA programs to get authorization from the state in which it operates, meet the…

This century has been a dramatic era for the for-profit higher-education industry. Enrollment at for-profit schools more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2010, but the sector was bruised and battered during years of clashes with the Obama administration, which sought to rein in abuses such as inflating job-placement rates and using high-pressure…

This 17th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the July 12 and September 20, 2021 meetings. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted…

Over the last two decades, prices in higher education have grown more quickly than prices in almost any other sector of the economy. Tuition inflation has been extensively examined. The examinations, however, have focused on a narrow set of explanations, none of which has revealed obvious opportunities for policy interventions that would slow this…

States have always had the ability to regulate institutions conducting instruction or other postsecondary activities in their states. In Fall 2010, a Federal regulation was first released tying institutional and student eligibility for Title IV Federal Financial aid to an institution complying with State laws. Colleges and universities were to be…

This 16th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the July 12 and September 20, 2021 meetings. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted…

This 15th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the March 22, 2021 meeting. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted from…

This 14th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the January 13, 2020 meeting. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted from…

This 13th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the March 19-20, 2018 meeting. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted from…

In this article, the author first traces the history of what is today known as the "Carnegie Unit" or course credit and discusses how it has become improperly equated with learning and abused in online and for-profit programs. The second half of the article provides statements concerning online credit hours from the following regional…