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By Doug Lederman. The view has been repeated so often that it has become an article of faith in many higher ed policy circles in recent years: Accreditation stifles innovation.
To wit:

• "Accreditation is the primary barrier to innovation in American higher education. Accreditation is the biggest barrier to real competition. Accreditation is the biggest barrier to real change." (Charles Miller, former chairman of Margaret Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education, in 2007.). Read more...

By Doug Lederman. This month's edition of The Pulse podcast features an interview with Claudia Reuter, founder and CEO of SchoolChapters, which produces the Pruvalu electronic portfolio. Reuter talks with Rodney B. Murray, host of The Pulse, about how colleges and universities are using Pruvalu for such purposes as institutional accreditation, assessment of student learning and faculty development. Read more...

By Julie Hare for The Australian. Despite the long, slow march to opening India’s higher education sector to foreign institutions and the likely chaos that will ensue when individual states there are handed responsibility for their universities, the ground is still fertile for engagement, the British Council says. In a report released last Friday, the British Council says there is a “sense of urgency” to expand the system at a fast enough pace to meet an impending demographic surge in demand “while increasing quality and ensuring equitable access.” Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. The theme of this year’s Association of International Education Administrators conference is “Universalizing Global Learning in the 21st Century Academy,” and a session on Monday focused on broadening, if not universalizing, global learning experiences for students who have historically been underrepresented in study abroad: those in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Read more...

By Scott Jaschik. President Obama disappointed many art history professors in January when he seemed to question the value of their discipline. In a speech promoting his job training and manufacturing proposals, Obama said: "[A] lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree. Now, nothing wrong with an art history degree -- I love art history. So I don't want to get a bunch of emails from everybody. I'm just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education as long as you get the skills and the training that you need." Read more...

By Paul Fain. Everyone from politicians to provosts seems to have an opinion on how to “fix” accreditation these days. That’s because the wonky accreditor plays a big role in shaping emerging models of higher education and how they are funded. Paul L. Gaston knows the accreditation process inside and out. A Trustees Professor at Kent State University, Gaston has served as a peer reviewer for regional accrediting agencies and has long been involved in the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. In a recently released book, Gaston tackles big questions about accreditation while also giving plenty of detail about how the agencies work. Read more...

By Carl Straumsheim. Liberal arts college, 161, seeks scalable, highly customizable online education solution. Must like Socratic method, small group settings. Let's enjoy Great Books together. Shimer College in Chicago, where classes of about a dozen students and an instructor pore over Great Books, will this spring pilot as many different technologies as possible in an attempt to create an all-online version of its discussion-based classroom. Read more...

By Scott Jaschik. The largest study of students at colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores has found that there is "virtually no difference" in the academic performance (measured in grades or graduation rates) of those who do and don't submit scores. The study -- involving 123,000 students at 33 colleges and universities of varying types -- found that high school grades do predict student success. Read more...

By Chris Parr for Times Higher Education. The first British massive open online course to offer students the option to pay for academic credit has ended, with none of its participants opting to fork out for official recognition. The Edge Hill University MOOC, entitled Vampire Fictions, was announced in May last year and attracted about 1,000 students. Of these, 31 reached the end of the course, with none opting to hand over the £200 ($330) that Edge Hill was charging in exchange for 20 credits at level 4 – the equivalent of a module on a first-year degree course. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. A 15-person panel appointed by the U.S. Education Department on Wednesday began a months-long negotiating process aimed at developing a package of regulations relating to student aid programs. Negotiators began to tackle an ambitious regulatory agenda, first announced by the Obama administration last year, that includes new rules for distance education, Parent PLUS loans and campus debit cards. Read more...