The Bush administration is likely to call for more accountability and higher accreditation standards for colleges and universities, but many accrediting agencies and institutions of higher education oppose standardized measures, saying they can't evaluate complex institutions objectively. (SLD)

The recent release of another critique of accreditation provides an opportunity to sort through some of the mass of ill-informed rhetoric in Washington regarding the nature and limitations of collegiate approval processes. The new report, "Why Accreditation Doesn't Work and What Policy Makers Can Do About It," comes from the American Council of…

Discusses policies of Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Eugene W. Hickok, Jr., which include encouraging colleges to graduate more students in four years, stressing the need to improve the academic rigor of core curricula and teacher education programs at state universities, increasing state student financial aid, and encouraging for-profit…

Fearing increased federal regulation, college accreditors are re-examining the ways they assess colleges. Agreed-upon principles include establishing minimum standards for institutions seeking accreditation in all regions of the country, setting higher standards for teaching and learning, and issuing public reports of their findings about…

Reports on a temporary South African government moratorium on expansion of university distance-education programs while reorganization of higher education in that nation is planned. Notes that several private universities are drawing distance education students away from the nation's two principal public distance-education institutions. Notes a…