Accreditation experts fire back on Florida HEA lawsuit

University World News

Nathan M Greenfield

July 18, 2023

Accreditation experts and professionals delivered a scathing assessment of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent decision to sue the federal government over the regulation in the Higher Education Act (HEA) that to receive any type of federal funding higher education institutions must be accredited by an independent body.

In a case that could have national impact, Florida’s complaint, filed in the Federal district court in Fort Lauderdale, contends that the part of the HEA that mandates that only institutions “accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation agency or association” – as in Florida’s case, the Decatur, Georgia-based Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges – are eligible for Federal funding is unconstitutional.

“I will not allow Joe Biden’s Department of Education to defund America’s #1 higher education system all because we refuse to bow to unaccountable accreditors who think they should run Florida’s public universities,” said DeSantis on his website the day the suit was filed, 22 June.

“Throughout my time in office, I have made it a priority to bring transparency and accountability to higher education and to reorient the mission of our colleges and universities away from purveying destructive ideologies and back toward the pursuit of truth and the preparation of our students for success.

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