Dive Brief:
- Maine’s state university system, which now has seven independent schools, each with its own accreditation, is considering shifting its structure to become a single university with one accreditation and seven campuses.
- Advocates of the plan say becoming a unified university rather than a coordinated system of schools will create administrative cost savings and allow more flexibility with programming, Inside Higher Ed reports.
- Critics say faculty will lose autonomy and quality could suffer by lumping seven very different and geographically separated schools together, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Maine’s higher education system is operating under a deficit. Tuition has been frozen for three years and enrollment is in decline. Inside Higher Ed reports the single accreditation idea is still in its early phases and the regional accreditor may not even be set up to handle its evaluation. A handful of state systems operate as a single university for accreditation purposes, as do many community colleges. That is also the structure of large for-profit colleges and universities, which are accredited by national agencies and often have campuses across several states.