The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state's public universities, is expected to vote to approve the state's newest accreditor, the Commission for Public Higher Education at its Friday meeting.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced the creation of the CPHE last month. Accreditors work to uphold and confirm that certain educational standards are being met at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
The Board of Governors won't just vote to establish the Commission for Public Higher Education as the newest accreditor of higher education institutions in the South and across the US. It will serve as the initial sole member of the CPHE and set out the bylaws governing it.
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The CPHE will be set up as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating out of Florida.
The six founding institutions that make up the CPHE, the State University System of Florida, the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina System, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee System, and the Texas A&M University System, will pick the unpaid board that will establish its accreditation standards, policies, and procedures, and take accreditation actions.
It will also be up to the board to pick or remove the CPHE's President and to incur any capital expenses the accreditor incurs.
The CPHE will accredit any state public college or university incorporated, chartered, licensed or authorized in the United States that awards associate, bachelor, or higher degrees.
In a statement, the CPHE says its mission is to, "ensure that colleges and universities meet and maintain academic quality and excellence on behalf of their students. CPHE's competitive advantage lies in modern accreditation frameworks that emphasize data-driven assessment, institutional innovation and regulatory compliance."
Governor Ron DeSantis said the CPHE is needed to balance out other accreditors, like the South's main accreditor the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which he says favors more liberal-learning institutions in their accreditation practices.
Watch the governor's press conference on the new accreditor:
"Florida has set an example for the country in reclaiming higher education—and we're working to make that success permanent," said DeSantis in a statement. "That means breaking the activist-controlled accreditation monopoly. The Commission for Public Higher Education, will offer an alternative that will break the ideological stronghold. With transparent, rigorous, outcomes-based standards, this accreditor will help ensure the Free State of Florida leads the way in higher education for decades to come."
In its business plan, attached with other documents for the Board of Governors to review, the CPHE says it plans to conduct a search for and hire its initial leadership team and staff between August and October of this year.
It will have its accreditation model ready by December.
Read over the full business plan here:
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