Yesterday the Department of Education canceled its recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools (ACICS) -- because they approved a school with no faculty or students that still received federal funds. The shady agency was stripped of its authority by the Obama administration in 2016, but of course was reinstated by Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration.
USA Today conducted an investigation last year that found that although approved by ACICS, Reagan National University in South Dakota did not house any faculty, students, or staff. And while the agency said that Reagan had met its standards during the accreditation process, it declined to say specifically how it verified the college had students and faculty.
[...] Reagan ended up being stripped of its recognition, but Betsy DeVos, the education secretary for nearly all of the Trump administration, stood by ACICS and said the agency had followed proper procedure when choosing to accredit the school.
The agency has accredited more than 60 for-profit schools, and several of those schools - including Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institutes - have shut down in the past decade amid allegations of fraudulent behavior, including engaging in misleading marketing practices and persuading students to take out loans they would never be able to pay back.
Elections matter, people. The crooks and thieves come out of the woodwork whenever the Republicans are handed the keys.
