Straws in the Wind - Part 39

From the Wall St. Journal: The Trump administration’s postponement of a summer meeting for a college-accreditation panel has set off alarm bells in an obscure but powerful corner of higher education. The panel is an 18-member board informally known as the accreditor of college accreditors. It recommends to the U.S. Education Department which agencies should be certified to accredit colleges. Without that approval, colleges aren’t eligible for billions in federal funds...

On June 5, the Education Department sent a memo to members of the accreditation-oversight panel postponing its semiannual meeting from July to October. Before October, the terms of six members of the panel will expire. Groups of six new members are appointed in staggered terms by the House, Senate and secretary of the Education Department...

Trump has called accreditation his “secret weapon” in his effort to remake higher education, which he and allies have portrayed as a hotbed of left-wing ideology that has given rise to antisemitism. Trump and other Republicans have long criticized the accreditation process, calling it a cartel that stifles competition and doesn’t help police colleges and universities with poor student outcomes... In April, Trump signed an executive order to revamp accreditation, aiming to put more focus on campus intellectual diversity and student success...

Full story at https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/trump-college-accreditation-meeting-postponed-58dfa404.