Over the last twenty years, college accreditors in the state of Texas almost never disciplined colleges for poor student outcomes or low-quality academic programming, while also rarely approving new colleges that reached a significant number of students, according to new research from the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The research, “Oversight of College Quality and Approval of New Colleges by Accreditors in Texas,” revealed that only 3 percent of the disciplinary actions pursued by accreditors came as a result of poor student outcomes, and only 4 percent of the actions resulted in a loss of accreditation. Making matters worse, the vast majority of new colleges approved in the state were for-profit, one-year colleges, enrolling 2% of college students statewide.
“When we examine the behavior of college accreditors active in Texas, we find that they do very little to police academic quality or student outcomes,” said Stig Leschly, CEO of College101. “In parallel, they show little interest in approving new colleges that might bring innovation, competition and better outcomes to the higher education sector in Texas.”
Key Points
- College accreditors rarely take formal action to discipline Texas colleges for poor student outcomes or low-quality academic programming.
- College accreditors almost never approve new colleges in Texas that reach significant numbers of students.
- Texas colleges that received accreditation in the last 20 years educate only 2% of the state’s undergraduates.
To read the full research, please click here.