[Editor's note: The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) is authorized and reconstituted by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. NACIQI provides recommendations regarding accrediting agencies that monitor the academic quality of postsecondary institutions and educational programs for federal purposes. The Committee complies with all requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and Government in the Sunshine Act. Their annual meeting is February 19-20.]
After last year’s reauthorization of several regional accreditors, this submission recounts a case study that exemplifies troublesome concerns about the apparent lack of precision among regional accreditors (both of whom were reaffirmed by this body last year).
Bay State College in Massachusetts and NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) in California, were the only two colleges owned by Ambow Education, a Chinese-based for-profit operation that has been in severe financial crisis for years.
As a consequence of being placed on Heightened Cash Management, Bay State was severely sanctioned by its accreditor New England Commission on Higher Education (NECHE) and after a January 12, 2023 commission meeting lost its regional accreditation.
This came after a scathing recount of concerns by Massachusetts legislators (Warren, Pressley) who called on NECHE to explain how it would come to its decision (2023.01.10 Letter to NECHE Regarding Bay State College Concerns.pdf). Following NECHE’s action, Senator Warren and Representative Pressley called on the Department to discharge all student loans for Bay State College students
(2023.02.09- Letter-to-ED-re-Bay-State-College-Accreditation.pdf).
Almost simultaneously, WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) filed sanctions against Ambow’s only other asset, NSAD for similar concerns that precipitated Bay State’s accreditation revocation. They issued a warning and ordered a team visit for February 2024. This came after an en-masse resignation of all non-Ambow board members and the sudden resignation of NSAD’s brand new president who was alarmed that NSAD refused to pay its landlord and other vendors.
After a team visit in February 2024 (NSAD - Team Report SV fall 2023.pdf | Powered by Box) in which the visiting team commends the new board of NSAD (four of whom, the majority, served similar role at defunct Bay State College; and for the hiring of failing Ambow Education Inc. COO Chaio-Ling Hsu as President of NSAD and lauded the appointment of a chief academic officer no longer employed nine months after this report) the commission acted in March, In March, the commission acted to remove the formal warning and to reschedule a follow up visit in 2026 (CAL_240306_NSAD_SV.pdf | Powered by Box)
In the meantime, Ambow continues to struggle. They fired their CFO (Jin Huang now holds the positions of CEO, CFO and Chairman of the Board) and moved their corporate office from Beijing to a small, shared office space in Cupertino, California. They continue to send barrages of press releases of little veracity or import in what one stock analyst describes: “All signs point to a business strategy based more on PR—and possibly on outright deception—than on an interest in product and execution”.
($AMBO is a Clown Car of Lies, Incompetence, and Poor Governance Speeding toward a Second Delisting).
What should concern the public is that two regional accreditors from each coast see the risk of this ultimate owner very differently. One immediately warned the public by removing accreditation. The other, despite no sign of growth in enrollment nor of financial stability removed warnings and even commended what appears to be minimal alteration. This provides a confusing message to the public about whether an ultimate owner of colleges has the skills and the means to lead a college into the future.
One additional note: It seems that some of the expenses of the college for both Bay State and NSAD were siphoned to the parent company, leaving necessary and usual expenses of any college off book for the college and unknown to the regulators - unlike the federal government requirement of financial statements of both the college entity and the ultimate owner. Additionally, Ambow remains in court for disputes with their landlord and for wage theft of its former President. While one would expect to see vast improvements with a college removed from warning by its accreditor, it seems simply more of the same.
This report urges NACIQI to take the position that if an owner loses accreditation for any single institution under its management, any and all institutions accredited by any certified accreditor issue an immediate probation of accreditation, and that each accreditor shares its findings with one another to ensure precision and allow the public confidence. For additional information about our ongoing investigation, please visit the Higher Education Inquirer.
