Last month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General recently came down hard on the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC) – the largest of the six regional accrediting bodies in the U.S. – for granting accreditation to a for-profit online university, American InterContinental University.  The Inspector General’s examination of HLC’s standards for credit hour and program length measurement identified that American InterContinental did not meet the Commission’s criteria, but full accreditation was granted to the university anyway.  The Inspector General has stated that this decision calls into question HLC’s ability to do its job as an accrediting authority and that the Commission should be penalized, with the most severe punishment being a termination of their status as a regional accrediting body.

The background on the issue is that HLC had identified a problem with American InterContinental’s credit awarding (the Commission felt that too much credit was being awarded for certain courses).  HLC put the University on notice, stating that a site visit would be made in the 2010-2011 school year to focus specifically on that issue, and the University is unable to create new degree programs or distance education programs without prior approval.  While HLC admits that this credit awarding problem is a big one, neither HLC nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation feel that it is a situation deserving of severe action against HLC.

American InterContinental had previously been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and School’s (SACS) Commission on Colleges, where it was placed on a 12-month probation for failing to meet minimum standards, including academic integrity and accuracy of recruitment/admissions practices.  However, the University had been back in good standing by the time it had applied for accreditation by HLC.  It’s worth pointing out that SACS and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) were also both called out recently by the Inspector General about their lack of clearly defined standard, credit hours.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/18/hlc

http://chronicle.com/article/Inspector-Generals-Warning-to/63206/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/12/14/southern