Embry-Riddle University gets warning about accreditation
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a private aviation and aerospace university, got a warning from its accrediting body, a surprising circumstance for a generally well-regarded college.
The warning was related to the length of certain programs.
Embry-Riddle has more than 30,000 students nationwide. At its Prescott campus, there are nearly 3,000 students, according to data the school published on its website.
Its programs cover the “operation, engineering, research, manufacturing, marketing, and management of modern aircraft and the systems that support them.”
The school, which also has a location in Daytona Beach, Florida, as well as online programs, appeared before the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education last month to discuss the warning.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges placed Embry-Riddle on a warning for six months starting in June.
The warning related to the length of its programs for accelerated undergraduate-to-graduate programs, where students can earn bachelor’s degrees and then graduate degrees.
It’s unclear from published informa
tion what exactly was missing from the programs.
Programs that allow students to earn bachelor’s and graduate degrees concurrently are becoming increasingly common in higher education. They allow students to get more advanced degrees in a shorter amount of time, often saving money and getting them into the workforce faster.
The university declined to comment further on the accreditation issue while the matter was pending.
The school has provided detailed reports to the accreditor and is awaiting its decision on whether the warning will be removed or continued, which is set to take place in December.
The accrediting body’s published disclosure notes that its staff cannot comment further on the matter.
What is an accreditation warning?
The accrediting body describes a warning as a “public sanction” related to “significant non-compliance.”
In this case, part of the accreditation standards include requirements for how long programs should be, like the number of credit hours for given degrees.
A letter from the accrediting body says Embry-Riddle “had failed to demonstrate compliance” with the program length requirement.
Representatives from Embry-Riddle told the state board last month that the warning related to “combined program pathways.” Concern from the accreditor related to meeting the total number of required credit hours.
The letter provides little detail on how exactly Embry-Riddle did not meet the requirements.
In the meeting before the state board, EmbryRiddle representatives said there appeared to be some “miscommunication” with the accreditor on the pathway programs and how they worked.
For instance, it seemed like the accreditor had the impression that Embry-Riddle had reduced graduate credit hours.
However, the school actually reduced undergraduate credit hours and replaced those with graduate credit hours for those programs, Bree Meinberg, the school’s associate director of state authorizations and workforce development, told the board.
She said there appeared to be a “miscommunication” with the accreditor on that issue.
“We’re holding our students to a higher academic standard as opposed to a lower academic standard,” she said.
She said there aren’t guidelines for these kinds of programs with this accrediting body, so the school needs to better articulate their processes and polices to alleviate the accreditor’s concerns.
Meinberg said the school immediately halted any new admissions to combined program pathways “out of an abundance of caution” for its worldwide campus. The programs aren’t halted at the main campus in Florida, she said.
In Arizona, only six students are enrolled in these pathway programs, she said.
School expects resolution to the warning
Meinberg said the school expects the warning to be resolved positively in December.
The school informed its students, faculty and campus community about the warning in a public statement.
“Please be assured that Embry-Riddle remains fully accredited,” the statement says.
The school has offered accelerated undergraduate-to-graduate programs for years to “exceptional students,” the university wrote.
The school said Embry-Riddle and “many institutions” are working with the accrediting body to address the program length requirement, which the university said the accrediting body recently “redefined.”
“Embry-Riddle is taking the notification very seriously, and we are working diligently with SACSCOC to ensure compliance with the SACSCOC Core Requirement,” the university wrote.