Should private colleges and universities
be subjected to adversarial oversight by politicians in 50 state capitals?
That's the question posed by federal regulations set to take effect on November
1, unless congressional objections slow down the timetable. Centennial
Institute Policy Brief No. 2010-1, "No Political Oversight for Private
Colleges," written by education expert Krista Kafer and released today,
analyzes the proposal and concludes it is regulatory overreach, "unnecessary
and unacceptable."
As Kafer explains in the introduction: "The
Education Department is set to mandate more government control over a
private-sector accreditation process that has served higher education well. To
what purpose? The new regulations offer little benefit to these institutions,
their students, or the taxpayers. Abuses by a few unethical, for-profit
colleges do not justify a power grab against 6,000 nonprofit schools. If states
politicize their authorization process, colleges may face the choice of
compromising their mission or closing their doors. In a nation founded on the
free exchange of ideas, that's wrong. Policymakers should withdraw the proposed
regulations."
Download the
No
Political Oversight for Private Colleges policy brief (PDF).