11th Circuit shuts door on Florida's campaign to reshape college accreditation

Source: Courthouse News Service

July 6, 2026


ATLANTA (CN) — The federal government’s use of private accreditation agencies to approve public colleges and universities as eligible institutions for financial aid is constitutional, an 11th Circuit panel unanimously ruled Monday in response to Florida’s challenge to the Higher Education Act.

The three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based appeals court upheld a Florida federal judge’s dismissal of the Sunshine State’s lawsuit. Florida officials accused private accrediting agencies of “gatekeeping” billions of dollars in federal funding by independently setting educational quality standards.

The Higher Education Act requires schools to be accredited for students to receive federal aid. Students may receive federal financial assistance only if they attend an accredited institution. The state has argued the system violates several clauses of the U.S. Constitution, including the spending clause, appointments clause and private nondelegation doctrine.

“There is really no debate that the accreditation requirement is reasonable,” U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher wrote on behalf of the panel. “It is obviously connected to Congress’s goal that federal student aid flow to high quality institutions. The history of private accreditation underscores the reasonableness of relying on that kind of preexisting practice.” Congress has required accreditation as a condition for federal financial aid eligibility since the 1952 G.I. Bill.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/11th-circuit-shuts-door-on-floridas-campaign-to-reshape-college-accreditation/