Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
10-15-2015
College/Unit
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Document Number
15-42
Department/Program/Center
Economics
Abstract
Higher education is under are in the United States. Pressure, both financial and political, is being placed on colleges and universities to reform. One barrier to reform that has been put forth is accreditation. While calls for reform have identified what appear to be problems with accreditation, it is important to not engage in the nirvana fallacy and assume that what we can imagine will be better will be better. In that light, I look at the history of the accreditation process with a focus on the role the federal government has played and how that has influenced other players in the higher education market. After surveying the history, I conclude that accreditation as currently practiced in not self- regulation, but rather government regulation.
Digital Commons Citation
Hall, Joshua C., "Higher Education Accreditation: Market Regulation or Government Regulation Revisited" (2015). Economics Faculty Working Papers Series. 175.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/econ_working-papers/175