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Credit Hour (Still) Rules
Despite conventional wisdom, Western Governors U. did not earn approval to award federal aid by directly assessing how much students learned. It ties student outcomes to the credit hour (though not to seat time).
Outside the Lines
Largely unregulated for-profit vocational colleges, which can't receive federal student aid, collect 40 percent of military spouse tuition benefits.
No Overhaul of Accreditation
Federal panel appears to have rejected idea of decoupling accreditation and financial aid eligibility, favoring less-dramatic changes to quality assurance system.
Raising the Bar on Quality Assurance
In redesign of accreditation process, Western agency will publish reports on colleges and require institutions to define graduates' "levels of proficiency" -- but proposals to compel peer comparisons face pushback.
Quality Assurance, Rearranged
In draft report, U.S. accreditation panel stops short of recommending ending link between agencies' judgments and access to federal student aid, but suggests how such a system could work.