The Higher Education Act requires schools to be accredited for students to receive federal aid. Students may receive federal financial assistance only if they attend an accredited institution.<\/p>\n
The state has argued the system violates several clauses of the U.S. Constitution, including the spending clause, appointments clause and private nondelegation doctrine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is really no debate that the accreditation requirement is reasonable,\u201d U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher wrote on behalf of the panel. \u201cIt is obviously connected to Congress\u2019s goal that federal student aid flow to high quality institutions. The history of private accreditation underscores the reasonableness of relying on that kind of preexisting practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Congress has required accreditation as a condition for federal financial aid eligibility since the 1952 G.I. Bill.<\/p>\n
An attorney for the state argued during an April hearing<\/a> that the law unfairly gives accreditors immense authority with little federal oversight. The state has claimed that Congress and the U.S. Department of Education unconstitutionally delegated government power to private accreditors, which have not been appointed as federal officers.<\/p>\n The 11th Circuit roundly rejected the idea that accreditors\u2019 role in judging institutional quality transforms them into government actors.<\/p>\n \u201cFlorida asserts that accreditors exercise government power in the form of legislative rule-setting power and executive decision-making power. But a wall of precedent establishes that accreditors exercise neither kind of authority,\u201d Brasher wrote.<\/p>\n Brasher, a Donald Trump appointee, was joined in the opinion by Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor, an appointee of George W. Bush, and Joe Biden-appointed U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu.<\/p>\n The panel noted that states routinely rely on similar privately-controlled institutions to decide who is qualified to receive certain professional healthcare or engineering licenses. Courts have repeatedly found that accreditors in those roles are not state actors.<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Education has also never delegated to private accreditors its authority to terminate federal funds, Brasher pointed out in the 18-page ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir power to accredit comes not from the federal government, but from their member institutions who voluntarily submit to their authority and by-laws,\u201d Brasher wrote. \u201cPrivate accreditors do not rely on any delegation of government power to do what they have always done: accredit their member educational institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Accrediting agencies are usually funded by the schools or programs that they accredit.<\/p>\n A representative for the office of Florida\u2019s attorney general did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n Representatives for the U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n The decision is yet another blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis\u2019s campaign against college accreditors.<\/p>\n DeSantis has accused accrediting agencies of holding colleges and universities hostage. He said Florida\u2019s\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0seeks to \u201cstrip private, unaccountable accreditors of their authority to stand in the way of Florida\u2019s higher education reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n DeSantis\u00a0signed SB 7044<\/a>\u00a0in 2022, requiring Florida\u2019s 40 public colleges and universities to change accreditors every 10 years. Schools may choose from among 61\u00a0recognized accrediting agencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n The law\u2019s passage came after tensions between the state and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which accredits all of Florida\u2019s public institutions.<\/p>\n The agency threatened Florida State University\u2019s accreditation after the school considered naming the state\u2019s education commissioner as university president. The accreditor also\u00a0investigated<\/a>\u00a0the University of Florida from 2021 to 2022 after it barred three professors from testifying against the state in a voting rights case.<\/p>\n The accreditor ultimately found the university had not exerted undue political influence.<\/p>\n