(Texas Scorecard) – The Texas A&M University System will join several other university systems from Republican-led states to launch a new accreditation agency.
According to U.S. News and World Report, the Texas A&M University System will join the university systems of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina to launch the Commission for Public Higher Education.
Accreditation is a process where an outside entity evaluates a college or university to determine if it meets certain standards. Typically, these standards relate to programs, faculty, and resources.
This process has become increasingly controversial in recent years, as accreditation agencies have become viewed as a vehicle through which left-wing programs such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and radical LGBT activism are imposed on universities.
Activist James Lindsay has described accreditation as a scam and a trap, arguing that it is used to force ideological agendas.
The creation of this new accreditation agency follows a series of disputes between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Texas A&M is also currently accredited through SACSCOC.
President Trump has issued an executive order to reform higher education accreditation.
Incoming Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar called the new agency “an alliance of some of the nation’s top university systems to provide a new, less cumbersome and more objective option for accreditation.”
The Texas A&M University System is the parent organization that currently oversees eleven educational institutions (including the flagship College Station campus) and eight state agencies. It is run by a chancellor who reports to a board of regents appointed by the governor.
TAMUS will keep its accreditation with SACSCOC until the new agency is ready.