Dive Brief:
- A top U.S. Department of Education official on Wednesday gave a cosmetology school accreditor 12 months to remedy a host of compliance concerns, barring it from granting accreditation to any new institution until it does so.
- U.S. Under Secretary Nicholas Kent’s determination came after Education Department staff released a report earlier this year that found the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences wasn’t in compliance with over a dozen federal regulatory requirements.
- NACCAS must suspend its review of any institutions or programs that are seeking its accreditation, which numbered roughly 300 in July, until it’s back in compliance, Kent wrote in his determination.
Dive Insight:
NACCAS accredits roughly 1,300 institutions offering cosmetology and massage therapy programs. The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
In July, a federal advisory committee recommended that Kent withdraw federal recognition from NACCAS over concerns that it wasn’t adequately overseeing the institutions it accredits.
If NACCAS lost federal recognition, the colleges it oversees would have 18 months to find another accreditor to retain access to federal student aid, including Pell Grants and Direct Loans.
Kent shared many of the advisory group’s concerns in his determination Wednesday and agreed with Education Department staff that the commission was out of compliance with a host of federal requirements.
“I am not convinced that NACCAS is a reliable authority on the quality of education being offered at institutions and programs it accredits,” Kent wrote.
He stressed several concerns, including that NACCAS wasn’t effectively disciplining institutions to enforce its standards and bring them back into compliance. He also said NACCAS wasn’t making sure institutions notified students about their accreditation sanctions.
However, Kent stopped short of denying the accreditor federal recognition, writing that it had demonstrated “it is willing to take corrective actions.”
“I also recognize that the agency accredits a significant number of institutions, and that were the agency to be denied recognition, a substantial number of students may be affected by that decision,” Kent wrote.
Kent added that despite NACCAS’ size, he did not believe the accreditor “is too large to fail, nor is too large to face consequences for its continued and pervasive noncompliance.”
“In fact, due to the large number of institutions the agency accredits, I find there is greater risk to students and taxpayers of allowing it to continue to operate in this fashion,” Kent said.
The accreditor will have to submit a monitoring report within 12 months demonstrating its compliance with federal requirements. NACCAS will also have to certify each month that it is complying with Kent’s determination.
Kent made a similar determination Wednesday for the Council on Occupational Education, giving the accreditor 12 months to come into compliance and blocking it from granting accreditation to new institution members until it does so.
