| A descriptive study was conducted to trace the evolution of the influence of the federal government on postsecondary accreditation. This study achieved its intent through a chronological examination of the federal government's influence on accreditation from the 1952 Public Law 82-550 (that initially engaged the accrediting agencies to be gatekeepers of financial aid programs), to the 1965 Higher Education Act and subsequent amendments, including the proposed 2005 amendments.; Before tracing the evolution of the federal government's influence over the accreditation process, it was necessary first to study the historical background of standards and control in higher learning which began as early as the medieval period.; Guided by Hegel's theory of change as a theoretical framework, the study examined the federal government's influence on accreditation. Hegel's theory of change purports that for every old idea, there is a new one, which conflicts with it. Moreover, out of the struggle a new idea is created. This idea is consistent with the evolution of relationships between the federal government and accrediting institution.; For this study the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was selected as the principal archival area. Documents, meeting minutes, reports, court cases and other data relating to the government's influence on accreditation constitute major primary resources examined for the first time in this study.; A software program---ATLAS.ti---was used to investigate complex phenomena hidden in the primary data. This software application offered an intuitive environment to manage the primary data: Public Law 82-550, the 1965 Higher Education Acts, the 1972, 1992 Reauthorization, and proposed 2005 amendments. As the researcher looked for evidence of government conflicts and governance contradictions that guided goals and policies, ATLAS.ti's coding tools compelled the researcher to make judgments about the meaning of continuous blocks of text. Through further analysis, ATLAS.ti's coding tools afforded the capability to identify evolving themes that contributed to the government's influence the on accreditation. These preliminary themes were checked, rechecked and tested against the themes that had been identified during the extensive literature reviews of primary documents from Middle States Commission on Higher Education as well as secondary sources. |
