Gary Stocker of College Viability explains how accreditors are paid by the colleges they certify, creating a conflict of interest. As enrollment declines and costs rise, accreditors face pressure to lower standards and approve failing schools, threatening the credibility of federal student aid and the meaning of accreditation itself.
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Let's go beyond the college brochure. I'm Gary Stocker from College Viability. They are the guardians of the gate, the accreditors, the mysterious powerful agencies that decide which colleges are worthy of your trust, and even more importantly, which colleges are worthy of your federal financial aid dollars. They are the ones They are the ones who put the seal of approval on that college brochure and even on that college degree you've earned. Without their blessing, a university is just a collection of expensive buildings. With it, they are an accredited institution of higher learning. And we've always been told that these agencies are the watchdogs. We are told they are the ones standing on the wall protecting the quality of education and the sanctity of your degree. But lately, but lately, a cold wind has been blowing through that gate. The fence of accreditors protecting us from colleges falling over the financial cliff has holes in it. You see, there is a dirty little secret in the world of academia. These independent watchdogs aren't funded. They are not funded by the government. They are not funded by the public. No, they are funded by the very colleges, the very colleges they're supposed to be watching. It is indeed a pay-to-play system. The colleges pay the fees, and the agencies, these accrediting agencies, provide that accreditation. And it worked just fine for many, many years. But as we look toward the enrollment cliff, or the enrollment slope, whatever you want to call it, as the financial numbers become too grim to ignore, we are already seeing a wave of college closures like never before. And that brings us to the question no one in the ivory tower wants to ask. What happens? What happens to the watchdog when the kennel of colleges starts to empty? As those colleges close their doors, the revenue stream for the accreditors begins to dry up. The fees vanish. The budgets shrink. Now, you might think that they just raise the prices for colleges that are left. But there is a new hitch in that plan.
New competitors, new accreditors, are entering the field, many promising to keep fees low. So these accreditors are caught in a financial vise. Their income will start falling, their costs are already rising, and their competition is circling. And here is the part, here is the part that should make every parent, every parent sit up a little straighter. We already know these agencies have struggled to monitor and report to you and me whether a college is actually broke. They have missed the warning signs time and time again. Colleges have closed under their very noses. If these agencies are under cost pressure, under financial pressure, if they are worried about their own light bills, meeting their own payroll, will they be looking closer at the quality of your child's education? Or will they be tempted to look the other way just to keep those remaining dues-paying members on the rolls? The higher education industry is headed for more than just a cliff. It is headed for a collapse of the very system that was supposed to keep it high quality, supposed to keep it honest. The brochures tell you the accredited stamp is a guarantee of excellence, but beyond the college brochure is that the people who hold that rubber stamp are starting to realize if they use it too often to say no, they might just put themselves out of business. And now we have gone beyond the college brochure.
