WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King denied an appeal from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), the nation’s largest accreditor of for-profit colleges, to reconsider its removal as a federally-approved accrediting agency. King’s decision upholds the decision of Department staff and the independent National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity.
“It’s time to say goodbye to this deadbeat accreditor once and for all. ACICS has no one to blame but itself for this situation. For years, it acted as a rubberstamp for the worst actors in the for-profit college industry, accrediting the likes of ITT Tech, Corinthian, and Westwood Colleges,” said Durbin. “Secretary King did the right thing for students in revoking the federal recognition of this outfit. Now I encourage the Department to look at ways to protect students and taxpayers as former ACICS schools look for new federally-recognized accreditors in order to continue to receive federal Title IV funds.”
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Last week, Senator Durbin led a group of Senators calling on the Education Department to take steps to protect students and taxpayers in the event that ACICS lost federal recognition. ACICS losing federal recognition will require the approximately 250 schools currently accredited by ACICS to receive new accreditation from a federally recognized accreditor within a period of up to eighteen months in order to remain eligible for Title IV federal student aid.
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