[Dr. Sivana]

I might have some issues with Ave Maria, but accreditation is about more than government funding. Christendom College and Hillsdale College do not accept funding, and yet both are fully accredited. This is important because graduating from an unaccredited school may make it difficult to go into a law school or medical school.

Accreditation is based more on the curriculum taught, credentials of the faculty, number of books in the library, things like that. It is NOT done by the government. There are also several regional and at least one national recognized (by other schools) accreditation agency. Counter-intuitively, the regional accreditation is the more desirable one.

The author of the article does the reader a disservice by imputing motives with no evidence. He doesn’t seem to understand what accreditation is about.

[Mengerian]

Hillsdale College and Grove City College are the only remaining citadels of what a genuine college should be.

[Dr. Sivana]

Accreditation is important because it means that the school's credits will transfer and be recognized by employers like the US Government; it also means that Ave Maria will get access to America's tax money.

90% of accreditation has to do with credibility. That's why Christendom College and Hillsdale were VERY keen to get accredited, with absolutely NO intention of getting fed funding. When the article singles out the US Government as an employer that requires accreditation, it is misleading. Employers have to know the difference betwen a real college degree and one you can get for $199.95 with your Mastercard on the Internet. Accreditation is a tool to that end. Accreditation by itself is not sufficient for government funding. I am not even sure if it necessary, though it doesn't hurt.

I am not going to dispute the other points you made. It makes more sense to attack the school, and Mr. Monaghan for things that are wrong, rather than things that are good in and of themselves (like accreditation) and assuming a bad motive. If Fr. Fessio was running the place, accreditation would have been a huge priority for him as well.

[iowamark]

Ave Maria U is certainly getting trashed for such terrible crimes as having athletic teams and being accredited, aren’t they?

Makes one wonder about the real agenda of the trash talkers.