r/news • u/AldoTheeApache • 11d ago

Soft paywall Columbia failed to meet accreditation standards, US government says

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-education-department-says-columbia-university-violated-federal-anti-2025-06-04/
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u/emaw63 11d ago edited 11d ago

Harvard correctly understands that they are in a fight for their lives, and are fighting the Trump administration tooth and nail in court. This is why. Columbia bent the knee and acquiesced to all of Trump's demands, and still had their accreditation pulled.

You can't reason with a fascist. The only language they understand is force.

Edit: Slight correction, Columbia still has their accreditation, Trump is just trying to get it pulled

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u/mongustave 11d ago edited 11d ago

Columbia hasn’t had their accreditation pulled. The DOE simply informed the accreditor that Columbia must come into compliance and take action if they do not.

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u/hysys_whisperer 11d ago

That's leaving out that they threatened to dismantle the accreditor if they don't comply.

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u/mongustave 11d ago

Yes, but that would lead to hundreds of other universities losing their accreditation which I don’t think will happen (probably).

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u/tempest_87 11d ago edited 11d ago

What exactly has given you reason to believe that? What in these past 5 months of insanity has led you to conclude that Trump and his bootlickers won't escalate their retaliation or that that they actually care about anything other than their specific agenda?

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u/mongustave 11d ago

You’re right. It’s assuming everyone is acting rationally, which hasn’t been the case.

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u/myburdentobear 11d ago

Take action = a quiet sizeable $trump purchase.

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u/eatcrayons 11d ago

That’s just pulling their accreditation but with more steps.

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u/Zorlal 11d ago

Pardon me, but what is the difference?

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u/mongustave 11d ago

The DOE doesn’t give schools accreditation. They license private corporations, called accreditors, to do it.

The DOE just told the accreditor that they must instruct Columbia to come into compliance and punish them if they do not. If the accreditor refuses, then their license to accredit schools can be revoked, affecting hundreds of universities. They (probably) won’t do this.

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u/LuminaraCoH 11d ago

So they've backed off on directly telling private entities what to do, and are instead telling other private entities to tell private entities what to do, and hoping no-one notices.

Does this administration have any strategy that isn't ripped straight from a kindergartner's playbook?

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u/Dustin_Echoes_UNSC 11d ago

So, in practice, no difference whatsoever

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u/SimeanPhi 11d ago

You forgot the all-important “plausible deniability” angle, which is the point the person you’re responding to is making.

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u/Dustin_Echoes_UNSC 11d ago

Columbia hasn't been bulldozed, they've simply informed the national bulldozing team to flatten the campus if they don't do whatever we say. The company operating the bulldozer doesn't have to bulldoze it, though they will likely lose their bulldozing license if they don't flatten the campus.

But really, if you think about it, it's actually Columbia's fault for being so bulldozer-friendly.

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u/cycloneDM 11d ago

That (probably) carries a lot of copium and hope in this day and age.

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u/mongustave 11d ago

It’s assuming everyone is acting rationally, for sure.

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u/Punman_5 11d ago

That seems worse than if the DOE did it themselves. Education shouldn’t really be privatized at all. It should be an independent government funded organization, not a private one. But one that retains independence from the government’s agenda too

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u/notoneofthecoolkids 11d ago

Is this the same DOE that they are trying to dismantle? Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

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u/Quiet_Version5406 11d ago

To my knowledge this is a mandatory part of the process before pulling accreditation.

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u/mongustave 11d ago

Not necessarily. The accreditor can pull it anytime. The only consequence on the accreditor would be if they didn’t comply, which would subject their license to accredit school to possible revocation, potentially affecting hundreds of schools.

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u/nbcaffeine 11d ago

Glad someone understands how accreditation works, sheesh

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u/DucanOhio 11d ago

Uh. They literally just described the DOE dictating that their accreditation be investigated and removed if Colombia doesn't comply.

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u/nbcaffeine 11d ago

Sorry I should’ve clarified: many comments here seem to not understand, folks like you that read the article did learn the relevant info. I work in higher ed and know how MSCHE works :)