Wikipedia states that in the United States, the Department of Education approves private agencies which can then go on to accredit universities and other schools, who then go on to bestow degrees to students.
But this is a pretty high power to give to an agency. Deciding who holds a certificate in what field defines the output of that field. How does the DoE set the standard for which accrediting agencies/companies have the power to do this? Furthermore, who accredits the DoE themself? Wouldn’t you eventually reach a point where absolute power comes from nowhere or an arbitrary source?
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The US Department of Education was created by the US Congress and tasked with the job of determining what institutions are accredited by the Federal government They were given funding for this purpose and the power to make this determination.
As for absolute power, not even close.
They have the ability to give or take away their own accreditation. Any agency, or even a non-governmental entity, can do this. I can create the “National Association of Splorging Education” and accredit or not accredit schools, and that means as little or as much as everybody not me cares about my opinion on the subject.
If a school is not accredited by the DoE for Engineering, for example, this doesn’t mean that they cannot teach engineering. It also doesn’t mean that I can’t claim to be an engineer, work for a company as an engineer, or, if they are willing, get accredited as an engineer by organizations such as the National Society of Professional Engineers.
Their power comes from the fact that organizations such as the National Society of Professional Engineers care about their accreditation.
> How does the DoE set the standard for which accrediting agencies/companies have the power to do this?
The Secretary of Education is responsible for approving accrediting agencies. The process can change at their discretion.
> Furthermore, who accredits the DoE themself?
Congress has that authority, but it has traditionally been loathe to legislate every detail, so it has delegated that power to the executive branch, and thus it’s the President, who has appointed somebody to the Secretary of the DoE, who has the power. Ultimately, the citizens who elected both Congress and the President who have made the choice, albeit indirectly.
> Wouldn’t you eventually reach a point where absolute power comes from nowhere or an arbitrary source?
I mean, the US is a representative democracy. Any power involves garnering the support of the citizenry via getting votes. In other words:
“Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.”
To just address the question of “where does power come from”, since that’s my area of study and not education policy: the answer is violence. In political theory, since the 1648 Treaty of Westfalia, the state (as in a country, not a state in the US) is that entity which has the monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a territory. In other words, when Congress makes a law and you decide to disobey it, the government is allowed to send armed people to arrest you (even suing someone is ultimately violence, because they can forcibly take your assets if you refuse to pay up). This use of force is considered legitimate, because (most of) the people of the US have collectively agreed that Congress can do that. You personally can’t just make your own laws and enforce them at gunpoint, but the government can. Attempts to do so are called “rebellion” or, if enough people question the government’s legitimacy and attempt to enforce it with their own force, “civil war” and if successful, “revolution”. Other people outside the territory can’t enforce laws either; attempts to do so are usually called “war”.
TLDR; big picture: the government can accredit schools because they make the rules in the country and can enforce them with violence, and this action is seen as legitimate by the population.
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