Although the Board took no formal action, it received notice that Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary (IN) resigned its candidacy status with the Commission.
Trinity Seminary (not to be confused with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a SWNIDish alma mater) is probably the best known and most successful unconventionally accredited institution of theological education in the United States. Operating unconventionally and almost entirely on a distance-learning basis, it has never had a standard form of accreditation. Recently it had made much of its candidacy status with the HLC. Now, that's over.
One can only conclude that the good folks at Trinity realized that regional accreditation would mean a serious change in the way they do business, one that would threaten their viability.
We feel bad for all the folks who signed on for classes on the assumption that the institution would be accredited by the time they finished. Like a lot of longshots, it didn't pay off.
For those who wonder, this higher educator insists that while accreditation may not assure everything about the quality of education that one might want, lack of accreditation is a reliable indicator that the student is getting less than what the degree normally signifies. Diligent students can learn a lot in an unconventionally accredited institution. But they can always learn more in a joint with external quality assurance.
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What can students assume about instructors without accredited degrees?
Accredited institutions generally do not regard degrees from unaccredited institutions (N.B. that institutions are accredited, not degrees) as qualifications for instruction. Those who hold them and teach likely are deemed qualified on the basis of other degrees or professional qualifications.
If you are thinking of instructors at the place where you study, those few who hold any degrees from unaccredited institutions also hold degrees from accredited institutions that provide sufficient qualification by the common standards.
Another way to think about it is this: By granting the college accreditation, the accreditation agency recognizes (among other things) that the college is qualified to determine who is and who isn't qualified to teach. Presumably, one could be a high school dropout, yet (for other reasons) be deemed worthy of a professorship by the college. Accreditation says that the college is qualified to make such decisions, much as it is qualified to determine which students should get a degree. Hence, any faculty member hired by an accredited college is considered legitimate by the accrediting agency, regardless of the status of that instructor's alma mater(s).
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