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Barack Obama鈥檚 call for an 鈥渁lternative system of accreditation鈥 for higher education bodies is likely to lead to a crackdown on regulators that are not enforcing the highest standards, a US accreditation chief has said.
Judith Eaton, president of the Council for 糖心Vlog Accreditation (Chea), said that the president鈥檚 State of the Union address last month had challenged the US鈥 accreditation community to prove the worth of the current set-up, as well as 鈥渆nhance rigour鈥 at tertiary institutions.
Unlike the UK鈥檚 single higher education watchdog, the Quality Assurance Agency, the US has 85 independent accreditation bodies, all overseen by Chea, that verify standards in universities and colleges through peer review.
Speaking at the QAA鈥檚 annual conference in Edinburgh on 12 March, Dr Eaton said that Mr Obama鈥檚 address appeared to indicate that 鈥渢he federal government has moved into the accreditation business鈥.
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His view had shifted from 鈥渇ix those [accreditation] boards that are out there to perhaps we need [one] run by government鈥, she said.
鈥淭he Obama administration has been phenomenally generous to higher education and they are now saying we want more of a say.
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鈥淲e do not like that, but we are going to have to do more to make sure we make our case heard.鈥
As her organisation was the 鈥済ateway鈥 for universities seeking to access federal loans, Dr Eaton said, it may need to get tough on boards that do not insist on the highest standards - a response to Mr Obama鈥檚 call for higher education institutions to cut dropout rates, improve quality and deliver better value for money for taxpayers.
鈥淚t is not enough for an accreditation board to be [deemed] OK - it has to be outstanding,鈥 she said.
鈥淭here are accreditors that currently accredit when not all standards of the accreditor are met鈥 - a situation that may no longer be acceptable, she said.
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鈥淲e often give institutions time to fix things, but perhaps we are giving them too much time.鈥
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