Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    Hands-On Career Preparation
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    Alternative Pathways
Sign In
News

Facing Pressure on Many Fronts, an Accreditor Promises Reform

By Eric Kelderman April 20, 2016
Washington
Anthony S. Bieda, interim head of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, has vowed to make major changes to restore public trust in his organization. He faces a significant challenge: Opposition to the council is both widespread and unprecedented.
Anthony S. Bieda, interim head of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, has vowed to make major changes to restore public trust in his organization. He faces a significant challenge: Opposition to the council is both widespread and unprecedented.Greg Kahn for The Chronicle

In 2013 the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools was being evaluated by the federal panel that advises the U.S. secretary of education on accreditation issues.

The council had been found out of compliance with more than a dozen federal standards two years earlier. But after it made some policy changes, it received a positive review by Education Department staff members and the federal advisory panel. At the time, there were no public comments submitted against the accreditor.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Anthony S. Bieda, interim head of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, has vowed to make major changes to restore public trust in his organization. He faces a significant challenge: Opposition to the council is both widespread and unprecedented.
Anthony S. Bieda, interim head of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, has vowed to make major changes to restore public trust in his organization. He faces a significant challenge: Opposition to the council is both widespread and unprecedented.Greg Kahn for The Chronicle

In 2013 the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools was being evaluated by the federal panel that advises the U.S. secretary of education on accreditation issues.

The council had been found out of compliance with more than a dozen federal standards two years earlier. But after it made some policy changes, it received a positive review by Education Department staff members and the federal advisory panel. At the time, there were no public comments submitted against the accreditor.

These days, the accreditor’s situation has changed drastically. The council is under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and members of Congress have blamed it for not acting on the troubles at Corinthian Colleges Inc., the now-bankrupt for-profit education company, and several other institutions.

On top of that, a dozen state attorneys general and numerous advocacy groups are calling on the Education Department to strip the council of its federal recognition, meaning the group’s member colleges would have to find a new accreditor within 18 months. And this week the accreditor’s president of seven years, Albert C. Gray, was replaced by the group’s Board of Directors.

“This council takes the concerns raised by a variety of external stakeholders very seriously,” Lawrence Leak, the board’s chair, said in a news release.

When you have a reset in top leadership, it gives you a natural opportunity to step back and say, What can we do differently? How can we be stronger? That’s where our heads are at right now.

Anthony S. Bieda, who has been named interim head of the accrediting council, vowed to make major changes necessary to meet the concerns of federal officials and the organization’s critics. He said those reforms, if approved at the council’s annual meeting in May, would include a new standard holding colleges accountable for the data on student outcomes that they provide to the accreditor and making it easier to put a college on probation. He said the council would also create a three-member board of ethics to oversee the body that makes final decisions on a college’s standing.

“When you have a reset in top leadership, it gives you a natural opportunity to step back and say, What can we do differently? How can we be stronger? That’s where our heads are at right now,” Mr. Bieda said during an interview in the council’s offices here on Tuesday.

Mr. Bieda had previously served as the accreditor’s vice president for external affairs. In his new role, he faces a significant challenge: Opposition to the council is both widespread and unprecedented. The criticism represents growing skepticism about the ability of the nation’s accreditors to ensure academic quality and protect the $170 billion in tax dollars spent on federal student-aid programs.

“You really couldn’t make up a better set of facts, in terms of repeat and systemic failure” of accreditation, said Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The association is one of nearly two dozen groups that have signed a joint letter calling for the council to lose its federal recognition.

Under Fire

Corinthian Colleges faced financial and regulatory problems long before it announced it was under investigation, in 2014. But relatively little attention was paid to the council until a June 2015 hearing by the U.S. Senate’s education committee.

ADVERTISEMENT

At that hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, grilled Mr. Gray about why the council hadn’t penalized Corinthian Colleges or several other institutions that were under investigation.

Mr. Gray defended the accreditor’s stance, saying the council “makes recommendations based on facts, not allegations.” But since that exchange, think tanks and news organizations have taken a harder look at the council.

A study by the Center for American Progress concluded that, by several measures, colleges under the council’s oversight performed worse than institutions overseen by similar accrediting agencies. For example, students at colleges under the council’s watch had higher rates of borrowing, higher average debt, and lower rates of degree completions, compared with students at colleges recognized by the council’s peer accreditors.

A report by the news organization ProPublica also found weaker student outcomes at colleges accredited by the council, compared with its peer organizations. ProPublica also found that many people who serve on the council’s decision-making body have also been executives at colleges being investigated by state and federal agencies.

ADVERTISEMENT

The council has disputed the tone of the center’s study and the articles by saying their conclusions painted an incomplete picture of the role and actions of the accreditor.

Mr. Bieda said the heightened attention to the council is due largely to the intense scrutiny of the kinds of private, mostly for-profit colleges that the organization oversees.

“The amount of scrutiny and criticism of the sector has gotten even stronger or broader. If you’re an accreditor in the sector, you’re also going to be subject to that additional review,” he said. But, he added, “How much of the deficiencies, if any, that are manifest in the schools are reflective of the method of accreditation?”

That question will be at the center of the debate in June, when the council once again goes before the federal panel that evaluates accreditors, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. The panel, known as Naciqi, rarely calls for an accreditor to lose its standing. But it is usually not petitioned by consumer-protection officials in more than a dozen states.

ADVERTISEMENT

The accrediting council has been required to answer two extensive requests for information that are outside the usual recognition process, said Mr. Bieda, who expects a “long and elaborate discussion.”

Mr. Nassirian said he agrees that the focus on for-profit colleges had grown in recent years, and that such scrutiny is justified by what he called evidence of “the fundamental corruption of the process and the mass victimization of students.”

But the current spotlight on Mr. Bieda’s group is really part of the much larger discussion of the proper role and function of accreditation across the spectrum of higher education, said Mr. Nassirian.

“This is a decisive moment for Naciqi,” he said, “and for the future of accreditation.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs. You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.

Correction (4/21/2016, 11:05 a.m.): A reference to the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools as Corinthian’s accreditor was changed to avoid the incorrect impression that the council accredited all of the company’s campuses.

A version of this article appeared in the April 29, 2016, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Eric Kelderman
About the Author
Eric Kelderman
Eric Kelderman covers issues of power, politics, and purse strings in higher education. You can email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com, or find him on Twitter @etkeld.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Content

How a For-Profit’s Implosion Could Be a Game-Changer for College Oversight
Who’s Regulating Troubled For-Profit Institutions? Executives at Other Troubled For-Profit Institutions
Accreditors Feel the Heat, but Are Torn Over Calls for Change

More News

Collage of charts
Data
How Faculty Pay and Tenure Can Change Depending on Academic Discipline
Vector illustration of two researcher's hands putting dollar signs into a beaker leaking green liquid.
'Life Support'
As the Nation’s Research-Funding Model Ruptures, Private Money Becomes a Band-Aid
Photo-based illustration of scissors cutting through a flat black and white university building and a landscape bearing the image of a $100 bill.
Budget Troubles
‘Every Revenue Source Is at Risk’: Under Trump, Research Universities Are Cutting Back
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome topping a jar of money.
Budget Bill
Republicans’ Plan to Tax Higher Ed and Slash Funding Advances in Congress

From The Review

Photo-based illustration of the sculpture, The Thinker, interlaced with anotehr image of a robot posed as The Thinker with bits of binary code and red strips weaved in.
The Review | Essay
What I Learned Serving on My University’s AI Committee
By Megan Fritts
Illustration of a Gold Seal sticker embossed with President Trump's face
The Review | Essay
What Trump’s Accreditation Moves Get Right
By Samuel Negus
Illustration of a torn cold seal sticker embossed with President Trump's face
The Review | Essay
The Weaponization of Accreditation
By Greg D. Pillar, Laurie Shanderson

Upcoming Events

Ascendium_06-10-25_Plain.png
Views on College and Alternative Pathways
Coursera_06-17-25_Plain.png
AI and Microcredentials
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin