Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, a nonpartisan think tank, and an expert on college closures and mergers, said accreditation isn’t necessarily the best or only imprimatur of quality. For example, he believes working to meet education quality outcomes standards developed by the organization Jobs for the Future could help an institution like Saint Joseph’s prove its worth. But abandoning the goal of accreditation does raise questions, Horn said.

“How do they demonstrate that they are a better return on investment for short-term programs compared to what is a pretty crowded marketplace: community colleges, online programs, all sorts of things there,” he said. “Maybe they feel like their brand in the region will carry the day—I don’t know.”

While that might be a “reasonable bet,” Saint Joseph’s needs to find other ways to signal to prospective students, “This is a program that will get you to where you want to go,” he added.