Accreditation supposedly ensures that colleges and universities are delivering a sound education to their students. It actually hasn’t done that for a long time, as standards at accredited schools have plunged. Among Trump’s higher education reforms are changes in the accreditation system, but will they do any good?

In today’s Martin Center article, Samuel Negus looks at that.

He writes:

The U.S. Department of Education recently concluded its “Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking” process. The results are predictably less sweeping than Trump’s campaign rhetoric promised, but largely follow the lines he drew then and in his subsequent executive order. I will briefly summarize the newly approved rule changes under those same three headings.

The first goal Negus discusses is that of keeping leftist accreditors from using their leverage to force schools to adopt or continue DEI policies. Second, the administration wants to open up the accreditation system to competition. Third, accreditors are supposed to ensure that grades actually reflect student learning, not merely having sat through enough classes to get the degree.

Negus thinks that these are moves in the right direction, but questions whether they will be implemented so as to improve accreditation. And there’s always the problem of what happens when we next have a Democratic administration that’s friendly toward the old regime on accreditation.