Governor Ron DeSantis announces first-of-its-kind alternative university accreditor
Press release from the Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Today, Governor DeSantis celebrated the unveiling of a new accreditor, the Commission for Public Higher Education, that will offer an alternative to the out-of-touch accreditation system. The Commission for Public Higher Education is comprised of a consortium of six state public university systems that are committed to ensuring higher education prioritizes student achievement without ideological capture.
“Florida has set an example for the country in reclaiming higher education—and we’re working to make that success permanent. That means breaking the activist-controlled accreditation monopoly,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Today, I announced that a new accreditor, the Commission for Public Higher Education, will offer an alternative that will break the ideological stronghold. With transparent, rigorous, outcomes-based standards, this accreditor will help ensure the Free State of Florida leads the way in higher education for decades to come.”
The Commission for Public Higher Education (CPHE) is a consortium of higher education systems from several states offering a new accreditation model that will focus on student outcomes, process efficiency, and the pursuit of excellence for public postsecondary education. By establishing rigorous, transparent, and adaptable outcomes-based accreditation standards and practices, CPHE will ensure that colleges and universities meet and maintain academic quality and operational excellence on behalf of their students.
“I am proud to be joined by leaders of five other public university systems to establish an accreditor that will focus on ensuring institutions provide high-quality, high-value programs, use student data to drive decisions, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process,” said Chancellor Ray Rodrigues, State University System of Florida.
“The University of South Carolina (USC) System accepted the invitation to join five other excellent U.S. university systems to form the Commission for Public Higher Education because innovating accreditation provides great benefits for universities, colleges, and our nation,” said Thad H. Westbrook, Chair of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees. “The innovations we expect to implement will benefit students while making accreditation more efficient and more focused on outcomes, quality, and success.”
Completely unnecessary and the usual posturing from the governor.
Another gillum supporter
DeSantis has this exactly backward. The accrediting bodies have kept standards pretty uniform over the years; it’s DeSantis’ laws that have challenged the standards, not the other way around. He is welcome of course to pursue his constituents’ ideologies, but playing the victim when you’re the one pushing the boundaries, and pointing fingers at ideology while pursuing your own, is gaslighting.
“That means breaking the activist-controlled accreditation monopoly,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.”
As if the state GOP under DeSantis hasn’t completely politicized UF and the rest of the state university system, including the dictation of curriculum, taking control of tenure, and university presidents who are now almost all political hacks. In an article in The Hill, DeSantis admits they colluded with the Trump Dept of Education (ironically named) to create this scam.
Goodbye to UF’s hard won high stature, soon to follow New College into the dumpster.
Yeah, you are sad because your freak gillum didn’t win
Under Republican leadership higher education administration in our state has become a golden parachute for connected politicians. Now they’re claiming that is insufficient control?
The clown show continues, from a Yale and Harvard grad, at the expense of our affordable and once fine institutions.
That you bragging about Harvard?
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M.
Yee haa, the Confederate States of America is rising again.