Tuesday, December 7, 1999

Decision Is Delayed on Agency's Authority to Accredit Distance-Education Programs By BETH McMURTRIE The Department of Education sidestepped a potentially divisive debate with an accreditation agency Monday over the issue of distance education. But the dispute has raised questions over how the department will evaluate distance-education activities in the future. At issue was whether the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, the group that evaluates accreditation agencies' compliance with Education Department standards, would allow the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology to accredit distance-education programs. An Education Department staff analysis completed last month concluded that the commission, which accredits nearly 800 institutions across the nation, lacked the experience to properly accredit distance-education programs. The analysis essentially shot down the idea that an agency's existing standards or experience in accrediting traditional programs can easily translate into the new world of distance education. The accrediting commission's chairwoman, Rosemary Kolde, disagreed. In a sharply written response, she called the staff's conclusion "unwarranted and, more fundamentally, unlawful." The commission's detailed accreditation standards, backed by 30 years of experience, can be applied to distance-education programs as well as to traditional programs, she wrote. Ms. Kolde also argued that Congress, in its 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act, clearly intended for accrediting agencies to be able to accredit distance-education programs, provided the agencies met the Education Department's general standards. On Friday, Ms. Kolde's commission asked the advisory committee to postpone a decision on its distance-accreditation procedures, and panel members agreed. "In fairness, everybody's grappling with this issue," said the commission's legal counsel, Mark Pelesh, after the meeting. "So under the circumstances, we thought the best thing would be to defer a decision on it for a period of time." The Education Department committee recommended that the accrediting commission's recognition be renewed for four more years, and it deferred a decision on whether to expand that recognition to include distance education until its meeting next fall. Students currently enrolled in distance-education programs at institutions accredited by the career schools commission are not at risk of losing federal student aid, said Bonnie LeBold, the Education Department committee's executive director. Jane Wellman, a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, who has followed accreditation issues in distance education, said the case makes her wonder whether the Education Department intends to start dictating policy to accreditors on distance-education matters. "This is unchartered territory," she said. "Are they there to second-guess judgments of quality, or are they there to see that the accreditation agencies are meeting the letter of the law?" Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, said she found it confusing that the Education Department had initially recommended renewing the commission's recognition, yet excluding distance education from the scope of its approved activities. "Congress chose not to establish a separate standard for distance learning," she said. "And the clear implication for that is that the existing standards include distance education." Wilhemina Delco, chairwoman of the advisory committee, acknowledged that both sides were working on unfamiliar ground. That is why, she said, her committee agreed to give the accrediting agency another year to work on distance education. "We're going to give them the time they need to look into it," she said. "But ultimately, they need to meet the standards." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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