Walberg Amendments Will Benefit Michigan Colleges

Press Release

WALBERG AMENDMENTS WILL BENEFIT MICHIGAN COLLEGES

Washington, Nov 16 - U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) this week introduced and passed two amendments benefiting Michigan colleges during an Education and Labor committee mark-up of the Higher Education Act. The bill will set higher education policy for the next five years in the United States.

Walberg's first amendment will ensure institutions of higher education are no longer pressured by secretive accrediting bodies to change or depart from their self-defined educational missions.

"Recently, I have been contacted by a number of colleges and universities representing hundreds of private religious and non-religious institutions from across the country," Walberg said.
"They have informed me that they have dealt with accrediting agencies that abuse their authority by attempting to transform and accept missions that run contrary to their fundamental mission. By threatening a private institutions ability to define their own educational mission, accreditation organizations undermine ideological diversity in our institutions of higher education."

Walberg's amendment protects independent colleges and universities from efforts by accrediting bodies to pressure institutions into rewriting or departing from their self-defined educational missions. It will continue to adhere to civil rights law by having no effect on a federal ban of racial discrimination by colleges and universities that receive federal funds.

The accreditation process is an important piece to a sound higher education system in the United States. However, Congress must prevent the potential for unelected bodies to undermine constitutionally protected religious missions of each institution that contributes to diversity in higher education.

Walberg's second amendment provides for additional transparency between accrediting agencies and institutions during the academic review process. Specifically, it permits an institution, like Cooley Law School in Lansing, to provide a response to any determination made by an accrediting agency and requires the agency to provide a response to the institution explaining the rationale for its decision.

The amendment ensures these institutions have access to the needed information.

"While all accrediting agencies and associations are required to publish the standards they use to make determinations about academic institutions, the rationale they use to make final determinations is not always made available to the institutions," Walberg said.

"Academic institutions like Cooley Law School would greatly benefit if this process became more transparent. An academic institution's accreditation should never be at risk because an accrediting agency fails to be fully transparent."

Both of the amendments passed the full committee and will be included in the final version of the bill that reaches the House floor.

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