The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is clung to Texas like a piece of the history. It’s time for opposition and freedom.
Two friend costs winding their way through the Lone Star Statehouse are at a crossroads in Texas, both of which aim to reform approval by allowing people establishments to select from more than a hundred vetted accreditors, increasing flexibility and competitors.
Senate Bill 530 and its similar Senate rival, House Bill 1705, are about rationality, efficiency, and putting learners initially.
The two charges strengthen Texas ‘ relationship with national legislation, saddle state resources, and ensure that our higher education system benefits people, not officials, by expanding the definition of “recognized regulating company” beyond the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Legislators of all colors should march behind it.
I praised the US Department of Education’s decision to end the archaic regional-national accreditor divide as a blow to consolidated overreach in 2020. It gave institutions across the country the freedom to pick any accreditor that adheres to federal regulations, fostering competition and freedom. Texas still holds onto the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges as a piece of the history.
In order to adapt to this provincial change, House Bill 1705 allows public establishments to select from 16 accreditors that have been independently verified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in its March 2024 list. Organizations like the Higher Learning Commission and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education have both established precision and have upheld precision. This is not radical; rather, it is just common sense catching up with reality.
Reform-minded individuals like me value efficiency, and these bills deliver. Take credit hours: Working families and first-generation students, who we claim to represent, are the hardest hit by extra requirements at$ 300 per course in 2023. These bills reduce costs and bureaucracy by limiting credits to an accreditor’s minimum unless academically justified.
They also facilitate credit transfers, so a student from a Western Association of Schools and Colleges junior college that received accreditation from the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges is not subject to transition to a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges university. That’s fairness, not handouts.
Another win for reform-minded people is the bill’s empowerment of Texas ‘ workforce. The Council on Occupational Education, which accredits technical schools essential to rural communities, is included in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 2024 list. By accelerating degrees in fields like health care, HB 1705 ensures that credits from these programs are seamlessly transferred to public institutions. This is a simple choice in a state where jobs are the driving force of prosperity.
HB 1705 strengthens Texas ‘ position, which I’ve long supported state sovereignty. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges ‘ one-size-fits-all regulations were lifted by the federal shift, allowing accreditors like the Western Association of Schools and Colleges to expand beyond established boundaries.
Texas can tailor its system to our needs by utilizing the diverse accreditor pool at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which includes Texas Woman’s University and online innovators accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. Local control is used, not federal rule.
Critics will yell “quality” —a worn-out scare tactic. Only the best-performing accreditors are selected through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s rigorous vetting process, which was updated in 2024. Standards won’t fall flat without oversight and academic safeguards. Texas can handle it, too, just like California does with multiple accreditors without chaos. In a world economy where adaptability is king, adhering to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges alone runs the risk of stagnation.
Lower costs, less bureaucracy, and greater state autonomy are all checks on the bills. However, it’s larger than that. Republicans and Democrats can support its fiscal responsibility, and independents can see the logic of the nonpartisan movement. This bill unites us in a fragmented time around shared values: affordable education, opportunity, and a working system.
Texas once commanded the nation in boldness. We need to see this legislation passed for the sake of our students.
Thomas Lindsay, Ph.D. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Next Generation Texas project is led by D.H., who is the director of higher education policy at Next Generation Texas.
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Denys Holovatiuk / Shutterstock / Texas with its flag overlaid.
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