The Commission for Public Higher Education launched last summer with the backing of six state systems. Officials argued that public institutions needed a new accreditor better suited to their needs. They criticized the current model as broken and suggested that new entrants will provide more choices at a time when legacy accreditors are facing greater scrutiny over costs and outcomes.
CPHE’s six founding members are the State University System of Florida, the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina system, the University of South Carolina, the Texas A&M University system and the University of Tennessee system. The aspirational accreditor is now seeking federal recognition, a slow-moving process the Trump administration is working to accelerate for new entrants.
Last fall CPHE tapped Mark Becker to be its board chair. Becker was president of Georgia State University for nearly 13 years and spent another three as president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Now he’s leaning on that expertise to help launch CPHE, which just announced its inaugural CEO.
Becker visited the Inside Higher Ed offices in Washington, D.C., to discuss his work with the fledgling accreditor. Excerpts of the interview follow, edited for length and clarity.
