Accreditation will significantly affect Ave’s bottom line, and it not only makes it possible for Ave credits to transfer to other colleges, but opens the school up to Federal Funding and Student Loans. It was never suggested in the article that accreditation was only about funding, but it’s a pretty big part of the enchilada, don’t you think?
TM has already made it clear what his vision for the school is, and it has very little to do with the idea of a University established by the Schoolmen.
Morover, Tom Monaghan has already indicated that he’s willing to compromise on integral tenets of the Catholic Faith by accepting money and giving honors to a pro-Abort politician and selling property to a facility doing embryonic cell research.
If Tom Monaghan weren’t so determined, I’d say this thing would sink into the swamp sooner than later, but I doubt it will outlive him. Whatever Catholic identity it was supposed to have had certainly won’t outlast him.
Partially true, yet not really that important. As you have indicated, SACS lends uniformity to institutions so that credits can be transferred. Most "soft" or government monies are gained by grants and state support to commonwealth type colleges. This is why it costs about 3X more to go to an out of state college rather than stay in-state. As far as loans, there are many vocational, non-accredited, two year schools offering associate degrees which can find funding/loans. So, money in conjunction with SACS is not much of an issue - unless you are applying for grants. Then you get into the good ol' boy system.