The Department of Education is calling on accreditation agencies to step up their review of colleges and universities, just as lawmakers are calling on the department to strengthen its review of accreditors. Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell sent a letter Friday to all accrediting agencies recognized by the department encouraging them to use the full extent of the law to monitor student achievement and troubled institutions. The letter provides detailed guidance — that reads like instructions — on examining schools, with emphasis on using quantitative measures such as retention, graduation and student loan default rates to judge quality. It assures agencies of the flexibility they have to ratchet up pressure on troubled schools.

April 22, 2016 ・ From The Washington Post