The Higher Education Act may finally be re-authorized following a 40-4 vote of the Conference Committee last night, July 29, 2008. One provision in the legislation, which influences how accrediting agencies (Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredits UNR) go about reviewing campus-wide assessment of student learning, will:

“Bar the U.S. Education Department from issuing regulations (governing higher education accreditation) designed to ensure that colleges are measuring student learning outcomes, . . .”

Other provisions will mandate transparency in areas, such as tuition and financial aid, but only time will determine how the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) & American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) initiative, the Voluntary System of Accountability’s College Portrait will evolve.

The major provisions are highlighted in today’s Doug Lederman’s Inside Higher Ed article,
7 Years, 1,158 Pages. . . and Almost Done.

A Chronicle of Higher Education article, House and Senate Negotiators Approve Compromise Higher Education Act, details increased federal oversight.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am and is filed under Accreditation, Assessment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.