The Department of Education recently made adjustments in regards to the recognition of the for-profit school's accreditor. It was recently announced that Department of Education opted to remove the accreditation of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
Business Insider mentioned that the Department of Education's decision to remove ACICS can impact more than half a million students in the United States. It was also pointed out that the eradication of the accreditation affected 245 schools.
Barmak Nassirian, the director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, stated that the Department of Education's decision to remove the ACICS can possibly downgrade the quality of schools. During his interview with the Business Insider, Nassirian started to question the credibility of approving ACICS in the past.
Nassirian stated that with the credibility of ACICS is at stake, it simply shows that the quality of education that students receive is said to be questionable. He then mentioned that it is a huge risk for the students and the taxpaying public as they are not getting the quality education that they deserve.
The Department of Education, along with 13 state attorneys mentioned that ACICS's accreditation failed its system. The letter implied that accrediting "low-quality," non-profit schools greatly affected the lives of thousands of student's that were placed under their plan. It then mentioned that ACICS's program is considered as a fraud, not only to the student's under its wings but also the taxpayers.
"ACICS's accreditation failures are both systemic and extreme," the letter that the NACIQI and the 13 state attorney generals wrote in the letter addressed to the Ed stated. "Its decisions to accredit low-quality for-profit schools have ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable students whom it was charged to protect. It has enabled a great fraud upon our students and taxpayers."
