A fourth, Stratford University, announced it will close Sept. 30

Unless they find another accreditor within 18 months, three higher education institutions in Virginia could lose their ability to offer federal aid after a recent decision terminated the federal government’s recognition of their accrediting agency. 

This August the U.S. Department of Education terminated the certification of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools after it “failed to demonstrate it could effectively evaluate, monitor and enforce quality standards for schools.”

ACICS had certified dozens of institutions nationally, including Virginia campuses of the University of North America, Stratford University, Fairfax University of America and California University of Management and Sciences.

The impact of ACICS’ loss of recognition in Virginia “will not be very large, but three schools will need to find another accreditor,” wrote Joe DeFilippo, director of academic affairs for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in an email. 

Those institutions include the for-profit University of North America and the nonprofits Fairfax University of America and California University of Management and Science – Virginia.

Accreditation ensures that institutions of higher education are meeting acceptable levels of quality. Crucially, the certification also allows students at such institutions to receive federal student aid.

Schools previously accredited by ACICS have been placed on provisional certification until they find another accreditor. Institutions that fail to find one within 18 months will lose their accreditation and ability to accept federal aid.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten wrote in her August decision that the agency failed to provide evidence that a few of its accreditation evaluators were trained, ignored its own standards while granting accreditation and showed ineffectiveness in monitoring institutions.

One of the issues cited by Marten was ACICS’ failure to uncover problems with distance education programs at Fairfax University of America (then called Virginia International University) that were later discovered by SCHEV.

Stratford closure

The ACICS decision received renewed attention this week after Stratford University, a for-profit school that has been operating two campuses in Virginia in Woodbridge and Alexandria, announced it will cease operations on Friday, a week before the 10-week term was scheduled to end.

In an email sent to students obtained by the Virginia Mercury, Stratford President Richard Shurtz cited the decertification of its accreditor as a reason for its closure. 

Stratford has also been struggling for several years to keep its accreditation from ACICS and last year closed three of its Virginia campuses in Virginia Beach, Newport News and Glen Allen. 

Shurtz said in his email the decertification of ACICS and conditions imposed on the school by the Department of Education, including a prohibition on new enrollments, made it “impossible to continue in operation.”

“Without new students, we would not have the sufficient cash flow to operate,” he wrote. “We will be forced to close operations at the end of this term at all locations.”

Stratford told students that some other accredited schools will accept the university’s credits on a case-by-case basis.

Students said they are also concerned about running out of federal aid and applying for loans.

“I just don’t know what my next steps are, and I do not know if everything I have done is basically null and void,” said Amethyst Whitaker, a nursing student at Stratford University who split time between the Alexandria and Woodbridge campuses. “I think a lot of people are in that same state of mind because a lot of people have sacrificed a lot to be in school and to do well.”

ACICS said in a statement that it will “continue to provide oversight and quality assurance, including monitoring financial stability and student achievement, to these institutions until they either find another accreditor and/or voluntarily withdraw from the former accrediting agency.”

(Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.)