COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina will join university systems from five other Republican-led states to reshape how the schools are evaluated.
On Thursday, the partnered universities unveiled a new accrediting agency called the Commission for Public Higher Education, made up of five Southern school systems:
- Texas A&M
- University System of Georgia
- State University System of Florida
- University of Tennessee system
- University of South Carolina system
- University of North Carolina system
According to a joint statement from the schools, the new accreditation model will “focus on academic excellence, student outcomes, process efficiency, and the pursuit of quality assurance for public postsecondary education.”
South Carolina’s flagship university was previously accredited by the South Association, first founded in 1895 and estimated to currently serve around five million students across the Southeast.
“The University of South Carolina (USC) System accepted the invitation to join five other excellent U.S. university systems to form the Commission for Public Higher Education because innovating accreditation provides great benefits for universities, colleges, and our nation,” said Thad H. Westbrook, Chair of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees. “The innovations we expect to implement will benefit students while making accreditation more efficient and more focused on outcomes, quality, and success.”
The decision comes amid a whirlwind of criticism from Republican lawmakers aimed at U.S. universities for what they say promotes liberal ideologies.
In April, President Trump signed an executive order to reform higher education accreditation.
“Some accreditors make the adoption of unlawfully discriminatory practices a formal standard of accreditation, and therefore a condition of accessing Federal aid, through “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “DEI”-based standards of accreditation…” the president wrote. “Accreditors have also abused their governance standards to intrude on State and local authority.”
The new agency is awaiting approval from the United States Dept. of Education.