A Betsy DeVos-approved accreditation group authorized a “visa mill” college with no students or faculty
According to a breaking story in USA Today, a Betsy DeVos-sanctioned accreditation agency gave approval to operate for Reagan National University in South Dakota, a “university” with no students, faculty, administration, or facilities–things which one might think an “accreditation agency” might notice.
DeVos’ Department of Education saved this accreditor from being removed from the DoE’s list of approved accreditation agencies, even though the agency, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools (ACICS), had engaged in shady practices in the past, including accrediting predatory for-profit colleges such as ITT Tech, Corinthian Colleges and Brightwood College–all of which closed last decade, leaving “thousands of students without degrees and undermin(ing) the value of the education of those who did graduate. Those closures led President Barack Obama’s Education Department to strip ACICS’ powers in 2016.”
Not to fear: Betsy DeVos was all too happy to ignore these problems with ACICS’ judgement, and restored the agency’s authorization to accredit the mostly for-profit colleges that formed the core of its customer base.
Even more ironic than a university without students and faculty is that Reagan National University CONTINUE READING: A Betsy DeVos-approved accreditation group authorized a "visa mill" college with no students or faculty | Eclectablog