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Minutes for SB78 - Committee on Education
Short Title
Requiring postsecondary educational institutions to regularly review and update accreditation policies, prohibiting accrediting agencies from compelling such institutions to violate state law and providing a cause of action for violations thereof.
Minutes Content for Fri, Feb 7, 2025
Chairman Erickson opened the hearing on SB78.
Assistant Revisor Tamera Lawrence, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 11)
Paige Terryberry, Visiting Fellow, Opportunity Solutions Project, explained schools everywhere are dependent on approval from accreditors. Accredited colleges and universities are widely accepted as legitimate. Losing one's accreditation status is a death sentence both reputationally and financially. Unfortunately, accreditors too often use this power to interfere with schools' governance and push radical ideological standards. Four examples were listed of schools that neglected their duty to ensure academic quality and none of the examples involved education or student outcom mple two-part solution. It gives Kansas' colleges and universities the opportunity to shop around and second, it empowers schools to hold accreditors accountable. Allowing colleges to freely pursue accreditation from any federally recognized accrediting agency dismantles the monopoly stranglehold that accreditors have. It gives the school autonomy to chose an accreditor that aligns with their specific needs and unique missions! (Attachment 12)
Michael Brickman, Education Policy Director and Senior Fellow for Cicero Action, said colleges must be accredited in order for their students to access Pell Grants, student loans, and other aid. Prior to regulations enacted in 2019, states had little choice in who accredited their institutions. This limited competition and meaningful accountability on both accreditators and institutions while creating a 'too big to fail' problem for the largest accreditors.(Attachment 13)
Neutral Written Testimony:
Blake Flanders, President and CEO, Kansas Board of Regents (Attachment 14)
Discussion followed.
The Chair closed the hearing on SB78.
The next meeting of the Senate Education Committee will be held February 10, 2025, 1:30 pm in Room 144-S
