If you go back far enough — before the Higher Education Act of 1965 — colleges didn’t have to be accredited. Many were, but there was no penalty for saying, “no, thanks” to any of the six regional accreditation associations. Then, with the beginning of government student-aid programs, those accreditors became extremely important and powerful since they acted as the gatekeepers for a huge amount of money. Moreover, the traditional regional accreditors monopolized this service in “their” areas of the country. In the Southeast, that was the Southeastern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

SACS has taken to throwing its weight around on educational issues unrelated to the quality of a school’s programs. It is dominated by “progressives” with a politicized agenda.

There is, however, some good news. As Adam Kissel writes in today’s Martin Center article, North Carolina has given the colleges in its system the freedom switch accreditors.

He writes, “Armed with monopoly power, accreditors interfere in governance, admissions, and more. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, commonly known as SACS, was, until recently, the monopolist across the Southeast and became a prime source of interference in university governance. Meanwhile, other so-called regional accreditors held their own fiefdoms in other parts of the country.”

A bill just signed into law changes that in North Carolina. Colleges will have to consider changing accreditors every ten years or so. SACS loses its iron grip. Perhaps NC universities will stay with it; perhaps not. The freedom of exit is a good move.

Kissel reports that several other states are moving in this direction.

Accreditation really does nothing to ensure that a college’s educational offerings are good, and there is no reason to give these groups regional monopolies.