(NewsNation) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday his administration is suing the U.S. Department of Education over college accreditation.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, among other officials in the Biden administration, are named in the suit.
Federal law states that private accrediting agencies can decide which universities and colleges are eligible for federal funding. These agencies give universities a standard of requirements they have to follow to maintain accreditation.
“In higher education, Congress has ceded unchecked power to private accrediting agencies to dictate education standards to colleges and universities, and it has forbidden the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) from meaningfully reviewing, approving, or rejecting those standards,” the lawsuit states. “Making matters worse, Congress has given accreditors broad power to apply their own standards to colleges and universities, subject only to limited judicial review.”
In Florida, higher education institutions are accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The state passed legislation last year prohibiting colleges and universities from being accredited by the same agency or association for consecutive accreditation cycles. Under Florida’s law, universities can also sue accreditors if they have been negatively affected.
However, to seek a new accreditor, a university has to receive permission from the U.S. Department of Education.
Because of this, their abilities to make these changes is “substantially burdened,” DeSantis, who is running to be the GOP nominee for president, said.
An example given by DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in the complaint was SACS threatening the accreditation of Florida State University when Richard Corcoran, the state’s commissioner of education, was a candidate to be the next president of the school. SACS said Corocoran’s candidacy posed a potential conflict of interest if he did not resign as the school’s commissioner.
Ultimately, Florida State chose a different president, while Corcoran was named interim president of the New College of Florida.
“So often (colleges and universities) have to do things to please accreditors,” DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday. “So if the accreditors really want to move the institutions in one way, right now, they basically have the authority to do it, and so we’re going to put a stop to that, and we’re going to make sure that ultimately, our institutions are going to be governed by the best interests of the people and the best interests of the state.”
According to NewsNation local affiliate WFLA, the 41-page lawsuit was filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
Florida, in the suit, is asking the court to find the current accreditation requirements unconstitutional and permanently block their enforcement.
In a statement to NewsNation, the White House said DeSantis is “bringing his culture wars” to a long-standing system that ensures students “receive a quality college education.”
“If Republican elected officials could have their way, library shelves would be stocked with guns – not books – and curriculums would be loaded with conspiracy theories, not facts. These culture wars do nothing to actually help students, and only make things worse,” the statement said. “This Administration won’t allow it. We’re committed to ensuring all students receive a high-quality education, and will fight this latest effort by opponents to get in the way of that.”
The Associated Press and WFLA contributed to this report.