Disruption in the US accreditation space

The US accreditation system has a long and successful history, but is now under unprecedented criticism. Especially problematical are increasing demands for accountability to government and the public. Issues of employability and how to access are also involved. What has been the primary form of quality assurance and quality improvement in the United States for more than 100 years is being repositioned. It is shifting from an independent, collegial process by which higher education decides and evaluates academic quality on its own, to a compliance-driven process by which external stakeholders decide and apply requirements for quality that accreditors are to use. The author discusses the four major changes involved in this shift. The first change is in who provides oversight and takes the lead in accreditation. The second change is in how quality is defined. The third change is about accountability: for what and to whom accreditation is answerable. The fourth is in how accreditation itself is to operate.

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