Accreditation for Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Threatened

Frank Lloyd Wright’s established School of Architecture might be losing its accreditation in awarding architecture degrees based on the implemented changed in America’s Higher Learning Commission (HLC). HLC is a non-profit organization which oversees the accreditations awarded by universities and colleges.

The group has informed the institution that there is a possibility for Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture to lose its accreditation in the master's programme starting 2017 unless the school separated from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which is its parent organization.

With this decision, the qualifications for architecture degrees will no longer be formally recognised in the country’s registration boards and graduates will not be considered eligible in taking the Architectural Registration Examination. The school acquired its accreditation in 1992 but this is about to change with the new rules from the HLC which was announced to be revised in 2012.
According to John Hausman, a spokesman for the HLC, one of the policies in the new rules of the organisation stated that “Accredited institutions must be separately incorporated from sponsoring organisations.” With this, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will be required to separate from the foundation and “to file for incorporation as an institution with a primary purpose of offering higher education.”

"This would require the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, which is not currently separately incorporated, to file for incorporation as an institution with a primary purpose of offering higher education."

However, Sean Malone, the Foundation’s president, said that the required separation would lead to funding issues and is therefore, not a viable option. Malone said that the foundation need to provide around $1 million annually for the school’s continuous operation. With this requirement, the Foundation will have no control on how the money will be spent and the donors will be unable to accept this.

With more than two years of discusssion and no solution in hand, the HLC has given the school three more years to settle the matter in time for the next accreditation cycle.

As a solution, Malone told the New York Times, that the Foundation will be partnering with another accredited institution so they can jointly offer professional degrees.