A lawsuit filed against the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Education claims a federal law requiring colleges and universities to submit to private accreditors to qualify for federal funding is unconstitutional.
The State of Florida filed the complaint in the Southern District of Florida federal court against Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and other federal officials, including Accreditation Group Director Herman Bounds Jr, Office of Postsecondary Education Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray and Office of Postsecondary Education Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation Annmarie Weisman.
“Congress’s desire that federal funds flow to legitimate institutions is understandable,” Attorney Natalie P. Christmas wrote in the June 21 complaint. “But it must rely on government actors — both state and federal — to provide those assurances. It cannot lend the power of the purse to private entities by giving them the keys to billions in federal education dollars.”
Christmas is legal counsel to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
Under 20 U.S.C. § 1099c(a) and 20 U.S.C. § 1001, postsecondary institutions are required to be accredited to receive federal funding for higher education.
Some $112 billion is at stake, according to media reports.
Among regional accrediting agencies is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which qualifies 800 public and private colleges and universities in 11 states, including Florida.
In the complaint, Christmas accuses SACSCOC of threatening Florida State University’s accreditation because the Florida Board of Governors was considering the Florida Commissioner of Education for FSU president.
“This was not SACS’s first time threatening Florida’s institutions,” Christmas wrote. “Following a deadly hazing incident at Florida A&M University (FAMU) in 2011, then-Governor Rick Scott publicly suggested that the university’s president should be suspended. SACSCOC responded by chastising the Governor for daring to express his opinion on decisions by a state-owned university and threatening FAMU’s accreditation.”
SACSCOC is a private, nonprofit organization while Florida A&M University is a historically black public college in Tallahassee.
"Then-Governor Rick Scott could not even speak out about a deadly hazing incident without drawing the ire of SACS[COC]," the complaint states.
SACSCOC Public Relations and Data Specialist Janea Johnson declined to comment on Gov. DeSantis' lawsuit but when asked about the organization’s relationship with the federal government, she said it is recognized by the US Education Department.
“There are certain mandates that institutions have to uphold, and we include those in our standards," she said. "Does the federal government tell us who not to accredit? No, but some of our standards, and core requirements are either out of legislation or mandates from the federal government."