AMU's Sole Accreditor in Big Trouble
Fri, Mar09, 2007 - Category: University
Current and prospective students at Ave Maria
University should follow a developing story.
The thread by which AMU's current/future accreditation hangs is now thinner. AMU holds a temporary ("preaccredited") status from one agency, The American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE); that status expires in November 2007 unless AALE awards full accreditation to AMU.
Things may snap sooner. At the December 2006 meeting of a Department of Education (DOE) subcommittee, AALE's petition to renew their own standing as an accreditor with Title IV authority was delayed pending a re-evaluation in May. In addition, the subcommittee "then recommended a provisio that the Secretary [of the DOE] not recognize schools that the Academy [AALE] might accredit during this six month window for the purposes of Title IV eligibility." A decision from the Secretary is pending.
AALE has a long history of problems with the DOE that center around "a lackadaisical approach to compliance" on issues like measuring student achievement and "failing in its mission of ensuring quality control".
As AMU's sole accreditor, failure of AALE would disqualify AMU from being able to offer federal financial aid to students. AMU does not appear to have a 'back-up' accreditor since, as of December 2006, AMU did not even have an application submitted to its regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
It is unclear how loss of accreditation would impact AMU's contractual relationship with Barron-Collier company since the two are real estate partners in the Ave Maria Town development. This is also potentially important to Ave Maria School of Law which is closing in Michigan and moving to AMU's campus to benefit from AMU's anticipated real-estate profits. But will the profits come if AMU fails to be fully accredited? Further, if AMU ends-up diverting money to overcome a shortfall in federal aid, how would AMSL be impacted?
The thread by which AMU's current/future accreditation hangs is now thinner. AMU holds a temporary ("preaccredited") status from one agency, The American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE); that status expires in November 2007 unless AALE awards full accreditation to AMU.
Things may snap sooner. At the December 2006 meeting of a Department of Education (DOE) subcommittee, AALE's petition to renew their own standing as an accreditor with Title IV authority was delayed pending a re-evaluation in May. In addition, the subcommittee "then recommended a provisio that the Secretary [of the DOE] not recognize schools that the Academy [AALE] might accredit during this six month window for the purposes of Title IV eligibility." A decision from the Secretary is pending.
AALE has a long history of problems with the DOE that center around "a lackadaisical approach to compliance" on issues like measuring student achievement and "failing in its mission of ensuring quality control".
As AMU's sole accreditor, failure of AALE would disqualify AMU from being able to offer federal financial aid to students. AMU does not appear to have a 'back-up' accreditor since, as of December 2006, AMU did not even have an application submitted to its regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
It is unclear how loss of accreditation would impact AMU's contractual relationship with Barron-Collier company since the two are real estate partners in the Ave Maria Town development. This is also potentially important to Ave Maria School of Law which is closing in Michigan and moving to AMU's campus to benefit from AMU's anticipated real-estate profits. But will the profits come if AMU fails to be fully accredited? Further, if AMU ends-up diverting money to overcome a shortfall in federal aid, how would AMSL be impacted?
In a February 2007 statement, the AALE argues that
(a) their treatment by the DOE was part of a
"political agenda" targeting the AALE and, (b) the
AALE was unfairly treated by the implementation of a
"last minute" change in DOE standards for measurement
of student achievement criteria.
However, an examination of AALE's track record with the DOE does not corroborate the aforementioned arguments. In Fall 2001, AALE was cited with two unresolved issues that required interim reports to the DOE Secretary. One of those issues remained unresolved two years later in 2003 - compliance with the Secretary's criterion for the standard on "success with respect to student achievement". Again, two years later in December 2005, a DOE subcommittee cited AALE for the same problem (see quote below) causing one evaluator to say "I can recall during my time on this body no other agency which has so blatantly and arrogantly spurned our requests for information that we are pursuing only in the pursuit of our [the committee's] responsibility."
Beyond the DOE, there is reason to be suspect of AALE's ability to assess quality. In 2005, AALE accredited American University for the Humanities (Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia). The institution was tied to the now-defunct American University of Hawaii, described by some as a "diploma mill"; AU-Hawaii and its owner were prosecuted by the state of Hawaii. That owner also founded the school in Tbilisi. A reviewer of the campus claims that Tbilisi's educational model "looked pretty good" but that "there were a lot of failures in management and resources." (See articles here and here.)
But AALE seems undeterred. In the coming year, they are considering accreditation for "American University for the Humanities - Lebanon" and "American University for the Humanities - Singapore".
AveWatch will have more on this developing story.
December 5, 2006; NACIQI subcomittee meeting on AALE -
"Probably most glaring is that there does not appear to be one word in any of the materials submitted by AALE of what it, the agency itself, agreed to do, namely analyze the data results and outcomes assessments that the agency's accredited schools collected.
There is not one comment anywhere by AALE about the reports that were submitted, save for an AALE staffer commenting in an e-mail that everything looked pretty good in one or two annual reports.
AALE has provided no evidence that it has complied with its own criteria or implemented its policies or reviewed any of the information it received or made any comment at all about what it did receive.
The agency has not demonstrated with appropriate documentation that it has implemented a process for measuring success with respect to student achievement in the institutions and programs it accredits.
In conclusion, AALE submitted policies and plans to the Department and committee in June 2004 to satisfy the Secretary's criterion relating to success with respect to student achievement, but whether the agency [AALE] ever really intended to implement these policies and plans is questionable.
This is especially troubling given all the time this issue has been before this committee and that this committee gave the agency an extension..."
However, an examination of AALE's track record with the DOE does not corroborate the aforementioned arguments. In Fall 2001, AALE was cited with two unresolved issues that required interim reports to the DOE Secretary. One of those issues remained unresolved two years later in 2003 - compliance with the Secretary's criterion for the standard on "success with respect to student achievement". Again, two years later in December 2005, a DOE subcommittee cited AALE for the same problem (see quote below) causing one evaluator to say "I can recall during my time on this body no other agency which has so blatantly and arrogantly spurned our requests for information that we are pursuing only in the pursuit of our [the committee's] responsibility."
Beyond the DOE, there is reason to be suspect of AALE's ability to assess quality. In 2005, AALE accredited American University for the Humanities (Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia). The institution was tied to the now-defunct American University of Hawaii, described by some as a "diploma mill"; AU-Hawaii and its owner were prosecuted by the state of Hawaii. That owner also founded the school in Tbilisi. A reviewer of the campus claims that Tbilisi's educational model "looked pretty good" but that "there were a lot of failures in management and resources." (See articles here and here.)
But AALE seems undeterred. In the coming year, they are considering accreditation for "American University for the Humanities - Lebanon" and "American University for the Humanities - Singapore".
AveWatch will have more on this developing story.
December 5, 2006; NACIQI subcomittee meeting on AALE -
"Probably most glaring is that there does not appear to be one word in any of the materials submitted by AALE of what it, the agency itself, agreed to do, namely analyze the data results and outcomes assessments that the agency's accredited schools collected.
There is not one comment anywhere by AALE about the reports that were submitted, save for an AALE staffer commenting in an e-mail that everything looked pretty good in one or two annual reports.
AALE has provided no evidence that it has complied with its own criteria or implemented its policies or reviewed any of the information it received or made any comment at all about what it did receive.
The agency has not demonstrated with appropriate documentation that it has implemented a process for measuring success with respect to student achievement in the institutions and programs it accredits.
In conclusion, AALE submitted policies and plans to the Department and committee in June 2004 to satisfy the Secretary's criterion relating to success with respect to student achievement, but whether the agency [AALE] ever really intended to implement these policies and plans is questionable.
This is especially troubling given all the time this issue has been before this committee and that this committee gave the agency an extension..."