Weeks before the Education Department sent a letter to a for-profit college in Illinois saying it would relax requirements for institutions affected by a troubled accreditor’s loss of federal recognition, the department was alerted that the institution might be abusing federal financial-aid rules.
In an August 9 letter to the department, Michelle Edwards, president of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, warned that Northwest Suburban College may have been in violation of Title IV regulations.
“On June 8, 2017, ACICS received a formal ‘whistleblower’ complaint from the former librarian of Northwest Suburban College, Mr. Crispien Van Aelst, who makes a number of serious allegations of misrepresentation and abuse, include [sic] possible Title IV fraud,” the letter from Edwards read, in part.
Neither the Education Department nor Northwest Suburban College immediately responded to requests for comment from The Chronicle on Thursday night.
Edwards told the department that the council had conducted a review of the allegations and offered the institution the opportunity to respond. “Subsequently, at its August 2017 meeting, the Council acted to withdraw the institution’s accreditation by suspension in light of this and other serious areas of non-compliance with ACICS’ established standards,” she wrote.
The complaint against Northwest Suburban College was publicly released in a trove of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and a subsequent lawsuit by the Century Foundation. The accreditor of for-profit colleges lost its federal recognition in 2016 after reports of shoddy oversight. It is in the process of reapplying for federal recognition.
Institutions that were affected by the accreditor’s loss of federal recognition were given 18 months to obtain new federally recognized accreditation. They were also required to sign an agreement that called for compliance with a handful of requirements. Those included an on-campus visit by their new accrediting agency to assess compliance, regular notification of lawsuits or settlements, and reporting of outcome data, among other stipulations.
Twenty-one days after the letter was sent to the department noting potential Title IV issues, the department sent a letter to Northwest Suburban College informing the college that it would provide “further flexibility,” and in some cases “fully or partially relieve institutions from having to comply with certain conditions.”
In September, in response to the accreditation issues, the Education Department did take some action against the college, by restricting its ability to receive federal student aid. The department placed the college on “heightened cash monitoring” status, which requires the institution to provide any anticipated financial aid to students from its own resources, and then to request repayment from the department.
Updated (2/28/2018, 3:12 p.m.): This article has been updated to reflect the fact that the Education Department placed Northwest Suburban College on “heightened cash monitoring” status in September.
Correction (2/23/2018, 2:01 p.m.): This article originally omitted a word from the accreditor’s name. It is the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. The article has been updated accordingly.
Adam Harris is a breaking-news reporter. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHSays or email him at adam.harris@chronicle.com.
