Florida lawsuit results in Biden administration approving college’s accreditation request, Diaz says
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. praised the the state’s lawsuit for pressuring the federal government to process a public college’s accreditation request.
“It turns out it only takes a lawsuit for the Biden Administration to finally do its job and approve Florida SouthWestern’s accreditation request,” Diaz said in a statement.
Florida SouthWestern State College sought an alternative accreditation agency after the state removed the statute that required all public institutions to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The Florida Department of Education said that the U.S. Department of Education dragged its feet in the approval process, making it difficult for Florida SouthWestern and other colleges to apply for new accreditors.
Florida SouthWestern waited eight months before receiving approval.
The department explained that this drawn out process costs post secondary institutions money and prevents them from choosing the accreditor that best fits their institution.
“Their delay came at a cost to Florida students and was entirely politically motivated,” Diaz added. “With three other Florida colleges awaiting accreditation approval, we’re hoping it won’t require additional legal action for them to do what’s right.”
Other colleges that currently are, or will be in the process of changing accreditors, include the College of Central Florida, the College of Florida Keys, Hillsborough Community College, Palm Beach State College and South Florida State College, according to the Department of Education.
In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke out against the federal government’s accreditation approval process when the lawsuit was filed.
He explained how the U.S. Department of Education can approve “whoever they want” to be an accreditor. This could lead, in theory, to an agency having complete veto power over an entire state.
“We reject the idea that a totally unaccountable, unappointed, unelected accrediting agency can trump what the state of Florida is doing,” DeSantis said then.
“You cannot take legislative power and delegate it to an unaccountable private body, and let them administer that power without any type of checks and balances, and so we believe it violates what’s called the private non-delegation doctrine, and we think that that we’re going to be right on it,” he explained.
