This week, Donald Trump issued yet another attack on institutional independence through a Department of Education letter declaring that Columbia University had violated the standards of accreditation and should be required to “establish a plan to come into compliance.”
No, Donald Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rescind a higher education institution’s accreditation, but the pressure he is putting on the Middle States Commission accrediting body is a clear escalation in his efforts to bring higher education institutions under his control.
Back in March, in a guest post, Bob Shireman, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, outlined exactly how these attacks would come, the deep roots and long tentacles of these attacks, and also why it’s so important to resist them. He’s back in the latest Academic Freedom on the Line Podcast to discuss these issues with host Vineeta Singh.
I worry about constantly stressing that these attacks have potential existential consequences, but this is the truth. A higher education system that requires the approval of an authoritarian executive to operate is not consistent with a democratic society. Trump has made these aims absolutely clear. As I wrote recently about the attacks on Harvard, we are not in a debate about how institutions should function in society. We’re in a battle over whether or not independent institutions should continue to exist at all.
Bob Shireman is a longstanding expert on how accreditation works and why it’s so important, especially now. We, at CDAF, are pleased he’s able to share this expertise with others in this enlightening conversation with Vineeta Singh, and hope you, too, find it useful in understanding this ongoing attack on democracy and what factors matter in the resistance.
Additional info:
Robert Shireman’s June 2024 report“Academic Freedom Is Under Attack. College Accreditors May Be the Best Line of Defense”
Robert Shireman’s March 2025 Article in the Chronicle “How an Accreditation War Could Start”
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