A09R0003 - U.S. Department of Education’s Recognition and ...
U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Education's Recognition and Oversight of Accrediting Agencies
June 27, 2018 ED-OIG/A09R0003
NOTICE
Statements that managerial practices need improvements, as well as other conclusions and recommendations in this report, represent the opinions of the Office of Inspector General. The appropriate Department of Education officials will determine what corrective actions should be taken.
In accordance with Freedom of Information Act (Title 5, United States Code, Section 552), reports that the Office of Inspector General issues are available to members of the press and general public to the extent information they contain is not subject to exemptions in the Act.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Audit Services
June 27, 2018
TO: FROM: SUBJECT:
Frank Brogan Delegated the Duties of Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Office of Postsecondary Education
Bryon S. Gordon /s/ Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Final Audit Report, "U.S. Department of Education's Recognition and Oversight of Accrediting Agencies," Control Number ED-OIG/A09R0003
Attached is the subject final audit report that covers the results of our review of the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) recognition and oversight of accrediting agencies. We have provided an electronic copy to your audit liaison officers. We considered your comments on the findings and recommendations in our draft report.
Department policy requires that you develop a final corrective action plan within 30 days of the issuance of this report. The corrective action plan should set forth the specific action items and targeted completion dates necessary to implement final corrective actions on the findings and recommendations contained in this final audit report. Corrective actions that your office proposes and implements will be monitored and tracked through the Department's Audit Accountability and Resolution Tracking System.
In accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, the Office of Inspector General is required to report to Congress twice a year on the audits that remain unresolved after 6 months from the date of issuance.
We appreciate your cooperation during this review. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Raymond Hendren, Regional Inspector General for Audit, Sacramento Audit Region, at (916) 9302399 or ray.hendren@.
Attachments
400 MARYLAND AVENUE, S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-1510 Promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department's programs and operations.
Table of Contents
Results in Brief .................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 Finding 1. OPE Needs to Correct Weaknesses In Its Agency Recognition Petition Review Process ................................................................................................................................ 8 Finding 2. OPE Needs to Improve Oversight of High-Risk Agencies During the Recognition Period................................................................................................................................ 16 Appendix A. Scope and Methodology............................................................................... 19 Appendix B. Acronyms and Abbreviations........................................................................ 27 Appendix C. OPE Comments ............................................................................................. 29
Results in Brief
What We Did
The objectives of our audit were to assess (1) whether the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) process for recognizing accrediting agencies ensured that agencies met the Federal recognition criteria and (2) the extent that the Department monitored agencies during the period of recognition. The Department grants recognition to an accrediting agency (agency) for a period not to exceed 5 years (recognition period), if the Secretary of Education (or designee) recognizes the agency as a reliable authority regarding the quality of education or training offered by the schools or programs it accredits. The Accreditation Group within the Department's Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) is responsible for reviewing agency petitions for recognition and monitoring agencies during the recognition period. In this report, we refer to OPE's monitoring during the recognition period, which comprises all oversight activities performed outside of the recognition petition review process, as "postrecognition oversight." Our audit covered OPE's procedures for evaluating an agency's qualifications at the time an agency petitions for recognition (initial or renewal) and OPE's post-recognition oversight of agencies. We also reviewed OPE's evaluations of five petitioning agencies (one initial petition and four renewal petitions), as well as any postrecognition oversight that OPE performed for these agencies. Our review covered January 2013 through June 2017.
What We Found
As of June 2017, OPE had a formal process for reviewing agency petitions for recognition that incorporated the petition review procedures required under Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 602.32 (34 C.F.R. ? 602.32).1 OPE maintained documentation supporting analysts' conclusions regarding agency compliance with recognition criteria for the five agency petitions we reviewed, but OPE's process did not provide reasonable assurance that the Department recognized only agencies meeting Federal recognition criteria. Specifically, we identified several weaknesses related to OPE's agency petition review process.
1 Required procedures under 34 C.F.R. ? 602.32 include analyzing an agency's recognition petition, submitting a written draft analysis to the agency identifying areas of noncompliance, soliciting feedback from the agency, and submitting a written final analysis of the agency (which includes a recognition recommendation) to the senior Department official for a recognition decision. All regulatory citations are from the 34 C.F.R. volume dated July 1, 2016.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/A09R0003
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