TICAS Condemns Effort to Politicize Accreditation and Weaken Higher Education Quality

In response to President Trump’s executive order on accreditation on April 23, Sameer Gadkaree, President of The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), issued the following statement:

“The federal government should not dictate what is taught in college classrooms or prevent universities from collecting data that will help them serve their students better. Without data disaggregating performance by race, ethnicity, or sex, accreditors—along with researchers, evaluators, and policymakers—will lack the information they need to truly assess quality. 

“This order undermines the aspects of the accreditation process that are designed to protect classroom instruction from political interference. Accreditation must continue to be an independent peer process that ensures both the quality of postsecondary institutions and that seeks continuous improvement of student outcomes.

“It’s clear that student outcomes on debt and graduation need to be improved. But encouraging colleges to shop for accreditors undermines clear, rigorous, and student-focused standards while risking rubber-stamp reviews.

“TICAS will continue to advocate for an accreditation system that improves how higher education serves students—without inserting federal politics into the classroom.”