© 2025 | WUWF Public Media
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514
850 474-2787
NPR for Florida's Great Northwest
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

University accreditation plan teed up

Cars speed past UF entrance sign located at the intersection of University Avenue and Gale Lemerand Drive in Gainesville.
Azhalia Pottinger
/
Fresh Take Florida
Cars speed past UF entrance sign located at the intersection of University Avenue and Gale Lemerand Drive in Gainesville.

The state university system’s Board of Governors next week could move forward with a plan to create an accrediting organization for universities in Florida and other states.

The Board of Governors on July 11 will consider creating a non-profit corporation that would be the Commission for Public Higher Education. The organization would be incorporated in Florida, with higher-education systems in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee having representation on its board of directors, according to a summary of the proposal posted online in advance of next week’s meeting.

“This corporation will serve as a higher education accreditor with the mission to advance the quality and improvement of higher education by accrediting state public colleges and universities that are incorporated, chartered, licensed, or authorized in the United States,” the proposal said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and officials from the other states announced the plan last week. The Commission for Public Higher Education, which will need federal approval, would be an alternative to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, a longtime accrediting agency that has clashed with Florida education leaders in recent years.

Accreditation plays a critical role in making schools eligible for students to receive federal financial aid. But Florida has taken steps to move away from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which is often known as SACS, and battled in federal court with the Biden administration about accreditation.

News Service of Florida