Accreditation

A decade in the making, upgrade of the federal government’s main higher ed database enables tracking part-time and adult students and gauging graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients. Limits remain, though.

Education Department’s inspector general labels Western Governors as a correspondence-course provider, seeks reimbursement of $713 million in aid and may broadly threaten competency-based education.

Accreditor’s rejection of Scottsdale Community College’s proposed expansion suggests that consistency and mandated faculty training could become a focus for quality control in online learning.

Arkansas’s new public online university chooses national accreditor over its regional agency, raising questions about pace, prestige and the state of quality assurance.

The new "Forever" GI Bill includes a $75 million program to let military veterans use federal benefits for technology courses through noncollege providers -- another potential challenge to traditional higher ed.

The Charlotte School of Law missed two deadlines set by state regulators and has asked for an extension to stay open.

Ted Mitchell brings a wide-ranging background to the American Council on Education, including work on reforms the higher education lobby group has opposed.

At meeting of federal advisory panel, some members push accreditors to set “bright lines” for colleges’ performance, while others caution against oversimplification.