Some Fresh Air for Higher Ed

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

6/7/13

 

A proposal to change the nations higher ed accreditation system, backed by former Nebraska Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson, the founder of an online university with ivy league ambitions, is reportedly circulating quietly on Capitol Hill. Inside Higher Ed reports:

 

The measure would direct accreditors to develop an expedited process by which new and innovative institutions that agree to enhanced oversight can earn accreditation prior to enrolling their first students. That approval, as the measures proponents imagine it, would not grant access to federal financial aid as full-blown accreditation does, but it would give a stamp of authority to providers before they enroll a single student.

Under the current accreditation system, schools need to operate for a few years before going through the peer-review process. This makes sense in theory, but in practice it makes it difficult for new schoolsparticularly schools trying out new educational approachesto attract funding and students. Kerrey and Nelson hope to lower the barriers to entry for new programs and thus encourage innovation. Leaving financial aid out of the equation would likely ease passage.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

It's the Results, Stupid

Paul Fain

6/7/13

 

ORLANDO – Mitch Daniels is agnostic on the various delivery modes of higher education or the tax status of colleges offering them, as long as students are getting a quality education at an appropriate price.

“I’m only interested in results per dollar charged,” Daniels, president of Purdue University and the former Indiana governor, said in a speech to for-profit-college leaders here on Thursday. “That’s the value equation.”

 

Daniels was speaking at the annual meeting of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which is the for-profit sector’s primary trade group. The mood may have been glum here for some attendees, because most for-profits are coping with steep dips in enrollment and revenue.

However, the rest of higher education also faces challenges, Daniels said, many of which have similar dimensions to those that are buffeting for-profits. Tests for public universities include declining state support and questions from lawmakers and the general public about the value of college credentials.

 

 

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Daniels said he learned about the adult student market during his time as governor, when he played a role in the creation of WGU Indiana, a state branch of Western Governors University. The nonprofit Western Governors offers relatively low-cost online bachelor's and master’s degrees that are self-paced and competency-based. He called the university a “great model.”

Emerging online players like WGU can also be seen as a threat to both for-profit and traditional higher education, a view Daniels acknowledged.

A few years ago, for-profits were the disrupters, he said. “Now you are fellow disruptees. That’s what markets do.”

 

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