Six Misconceptions about Accreditation in Higher Education: Lessons from Teacher Education

The role of accreditation is to assure that the standards that uniquely define institutions and programs are adhered to so that their increasingly high costs produce solid value. In the fall 2011 issue of "The Presidency," a publication of the American Council on Education (ACE), Terry Hartle, a senior vice-president of ACE, outlined six misconceptions about accreditation that threaten a seven-decades arrangement in which accreditors have served the public by vouching for the quality of institutions and programs that receive federal monies. While most of these misconceptions are rooted in differing views of the purposes of accreditation, they are only partly in error and need to be addressed if accreditation is to continue to provide its uniquely American form of quality assurance. This article describes the six misconceptions about accreditation in higher education. It also discusses three things that are likely to happen if these misconceptions take root in the policy community and continue to undermine confidence in accreditation. (Contains 1 resource.)