“Are you kidding me?”: Four GOP-led states with surprising move to break free from ideological accreditation monopoly
Florida – Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee are all working hard to change the way colleges and universities are accredited. They have announced the development of their own accrediting committee, which might change the way accreditation is done across the country.
On Thursday, governors from these states announced the creation of the Commission for Public Higher Education. This new group will help public universities get accreditation in a different way.
The main goal of this project is to transform how colleges and universities are evaluated. States have relied on established accrediting agencies for years to make sure that schools fulfill specific academic and administrative criteria. This system is also very important for deciding who can get government funds.
But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who led the announcement at Florida Atlantic University, says that current accreditors have become too focused on ideological criteria, especially when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements.
DeSantis calls these “woke accreditation cartels” a monopoly that limits states’ ability to run their own public colleges.
“What we’ve seen develop is an accreditation cartel and the accreditors by-and-large are all singing from the same sheet of music and it’s not what the state of Florida wants to see reflected in its universities in many different respects,” DeSantis said.
The new commission wants to establish a different model that puts academic quality and student achievement first, instead of what DeSantis calls “ideological fads.” The governors concerned say that this isn’t just about policy differences; it’s also about getting back control over education standards and responding to what they regard as overreach by accrediting agencies.
“The accreditors are telling them they have to do these things. So, when we said, ‘No DEI,’ the accreditors are telling these universities, ‘No, no, no, you’re not going to get accredited unless you do DEI.’ Who the heck are they to say what our universities have to do? They’re telling them they can’t follow state law? Are you kidding me? Nobody elected them to make that judgment at all.
Getting the federal government to agree is an important next step. The commission’s members have started working closely with the U.S. Department of Education to have the new model recognized so that colleges that are accredited by the commission can continue to receive federal help.
DeSantis emphasized the urgency of gaining this approval during President Trump’s administration, citing recent executive orders that call for reforms and accountability in the accreditation system.
“If it doesn’t get approved and stick during that time, you can have a president come in next and potentially revoke it, and they could probably do that very quickly,” he warned.
The decision has sparked debate in the higher education sector. Supporters say that states should be able to set their own course, while detractors say that this could lead to academic standards becoming political. DeSantis, on the other hand, said that additional conservative states in the South are expected to join the new accrediting agency in the next few months. This would mean a big change in how higher education could be overseen in the region.
For now, the six states involved seem set on seeing their plan through. They see the new commission as a way to get more academic independence, responsibility, and, most importantly, a break from what they see as certification methods that don’t work for everyone.
