Florida is joining a group of Republican states to launch a new higher education accrediting body.
During a press conference in Boca Raton, Gov. Ron DeSantis said university accrediting bodies like the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or, SACS, have resisted Florida’s pushes against Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives in higher education.
“When we said ‘No DEI’ the accreditor was telling our universities, ‘Oh no, no, you're not going to get accredited unless you do DEI’ who the heck are they to say what our universities have to do? They're telling them they can't follow state law. Are you kidding me,” he said
To counteract that, DeSantis said Florida is working with five other university systems from Republican states, along with the U.S. Department of Education, to launch what they’re calling the Commission for Public Higher Education. Those states include Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
DeSantis said the move will help ensure those who control accreditation better reflect what the states and their residents want.
“Who are these accreditors? Did you elect any of these accreditors to anything? No, it's kind of just a self-selected these, these juntas kind of have developed where the Department of Education in the past has approved them to be accreditors, and so they basically don't have accountability,” he said.
DeSantis’ announcement was slim on detail. Florida State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said during the presser they’re still being worked out.
“I can assure you, we were meeting with the US Department of Education, the people who are working on this full time, who have been tasked by other state systems have tasked us with individuals working in their system who have experience in accreditation with the US Department of Education,” he said.
Florida has been feuding with SACS for years. One major clash came in 2022 when SACS expressed concerns the University of Florida attempted to bar faculty from testifying against the state in a voting rights restriction case. SACS eventually cleared them of wrongdoing.