EQOS is not a membership organization for colleges. And much of the group’s success has been with state agencies. Its pilot projects in Colorado, New Jersey, and Indiana, for example, have focused on accelerated training programs, such as apprenticeships.

JFF should be able to create more demand and visibility for the quality-assurance standards from EQOS, says Michael Horn, an author and higher education expert who is the EQOS board chairman.

“It will also give states more confidence that this organization isn’t going away,” he says.