ARTICLE
30 March 2023

Is College Accreditation Constitutional?

SJ
Steptoe LLP

Contributor

In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and professional staff across the US, Europe and Asia.
Shannen Coffin and George Leef, director of research, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, co-authored an article published by The Wall Street Journal...
United States Government, Public Sector

Shannen Coffin and George Leef, director of research, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, co-authored an article published by The Wall Street Journal, "Is College Accreditation Constitutional?" The piece discusses authority given to accreditation bodies to act as gatekeepers for federal student aid as established in the Higher Education Act. The law authorizes private organizations to establish and apply their own accreditation standards with virtually no federal oversight. The authors argue that this raises substantial constitutional questions of delegation of legislative power to private organizations.

The authors state: "Breaking the link between accreditation and federal student-aid eligibility would remove an unaccountable and increasingly meddlesome bureaucracy from the process and compel schools to focus once again on educating students."

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal [Subscription may be required].

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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