NMC: Regulate entry of postsecondary schools

The Northern Marianas College has opposed a House proposal seeking to promote the establishment of more postsecondary institutions, saying it lacks a mechanisms that would regulate their entry into the CNMI.

Acting NMC President Alvaro A. Santos said such policy would be dangerous since this will allow any school organization to set up a college here without the benefit of a scrutiny.

“The wisdom of allowing anybody, person or organization, to establish a postsecondary educational institution in the Commonwealth without regulation by any agency of the government is questionable and even dangerous,” warned Mr. Santos.

In a testimony, Mr. Santos also told House leaders to exercise caution in approving the measure since the CNMI has already allowed one institution to offer postsecondary education without proper screening.

“At present, there is an institution on island besides NMC that is offering postsecondary education courses and claims that its college credits are transferable to institutions in the U.S. This claim is inaccurate,” said Mr. Santos.

He added that the school, which he did not identify, is not accredited by neither the Eastern, Midwestern and Western accreditation commissions for colleges and universities.

But according to Mr. Santos, the institution claims that it is sanctioned by a religious organization for Christian colleges to which it is a member.

“What we would like to see is that any person or organization which plans to offer postsecondary education in the CNMI will have to obtain accreditation from the same organization as NMC gets it accreditation,” he said.

He further proposed that a special agency be designated to regulate and have power to issue licenses to institutions that engage in postsecondary education activities.

The House of Representatives last week moved to remove barriers against the establishment of new colleges on island.

Legislation amending the statute that gave birth to NMC was passed by the lower house in a bid to encourage more postsecondary institutions to develop and sustain training for local residents in areas which the CNMI lacks manpower.

The specified fields of expertise include training for teachers, engineers, and tradesmen since these job categories are still being filled by nonresident workers more than 20 years since NMC vowed to fulfill the mission.