DeSantis challenges Biden on another legal front — college accreditation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The DeSantis administration sued the U.S. Education Department and top federal officials this week, claiming they are impeding efforts by Florida universities to switch accreditors — a significant priority for state Republicans.

Florida’s suit is challenging federal rules governing accreditation boards that Gov. Ron DeSantis contends wield too much power over schools and are circumventing policies and decisions from state leaders. The lawsuit marks the latest legal battle between DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, and the Biden administration as the sides continue to clash over an unrelated high-profile immigration dispute.

“Within the next couple years, I think we’re going to see this accreditation cartel basically come crumbling down and more freedom in higher education reigning supreme,” DeSantis said Thursday at an event in Tampa announcing the lawsuit.

Accreditation agencies generally ensure higher education institutions meet standards of quality and are a necessary go-through for schools to ensure their students are eligible for billions of dollars in federal financial aid.

In Florida, Republicans for years have been at odds with the state’s accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACS, over several disagreements leading to a landmark 2022 law triggering every state school to seek out a new accreditation board. More than half of Florida’s 40 state colleges and universities, as a result, are expected to change accreditors in the next two years through shifts that will send millions of dollars to a different agency.

With those changes unfolding now, Florida officials are accusing the feds of slow walking accreditation requests after the U.S. Education Department created new rules in light of the state’s law. Officials with the Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, alleges that the “current accreditation scheme” spearheaded by the federal government is violating the private non-delegation doctrine, the Appointments Clause and the Spending Clause. It targets Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and other top Biden officials, contending that under this administration “private accrediting agencies enjoy near limitless power over state institutions.”

The Education Department, shortly after Florida passed its law, adopted a new policy requiring schools to demonstrate “reasonable cause” for switching accreditors and score federal approval before making the move in hopes of preventing “accreditation-shopping” to skirt accountability, according to the agency. The feds also are evaluating if the decision by schools to change accrediting agencies is “voluntary,” which could be key for Florida.

State officials, in turn, argue that the feds sent guidance to boards across the country “seeking to deter new accreditors from working with Florida.”

On Thursday, state university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues slammed the Biden administration for its response to an accreditation request by the University of Central Florida to move from SACS to the Higher Learning Commission, one of the first such moves.

Rodrigues, a former Republican state senator, said USDOE took six months to respond to UCF and when the response finally came, the federal agency asked more questions of the school, leaving the university “trapped” and its accreditation up in the air.

“The Department of Education holds themselves up as if their action is to protect quality, and that’s why they’re delaying the response to the University of Central Florida,” Rodrigues said Thursday alongside DeSantis.

State Republicans have a list of reasons for wanting to separate from SACS, including the accreditor flagging a possible conflict of interest in Florida State University’s search for a new president as well as opening a probe into the University of Florida’s decision to block three professors from testifying as experts in a legal case challenging a GOP-backed voting bill.

But Florida is also critical of how SACS handled the consideration of former Republican Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as chancellor over the University System of Georgia two years ago. At the time, SACS sent a letter to the university system warning, according to Florida’s lawsuit, that Perdue’s candidacy threatened the entire university system’s accreditation and could result in “bad press,” “loss in enrollment and donations,” and loss of “access to federal financial aid” for students.

DeSantis, who is pushing to root out traces of “wokeness” in K-12 schools and colleges alike, suggested that Purdue would have faced less scrutiny if he were a Democrat.

“If the shoe were on the other foot in terms of party, do you honestly think that SACS would have issued that ultimatum?” DeSantis said Thursday. “No way, no way. So, they’re pursuing their agenda, and the question is whose agenda should ultimately govern.”

The accreditation lawsuit is set to play out in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida in Ft. Lauderdale. The case was assigned to Judge Rodney Smith, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who was previously put on a circuit court by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) when he served as governor.