Established by the legendary architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, the 82 years old school of architecture is now facing loss of accreditation to grant a Master of Architecture degree.
Why? Well according to the Chicago based Higher Learning Commission, a nonprofit accreditation organization, they require that “accredited institutions must be separately incorporated from sponsoring organizations.”
Of course this is not the case for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture since it has always been run by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation that controls all operations in the school. So, if the school was separately incorporated from the foundation the latter would lose all control over the school.
According to Sean Malone, president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, incorporation as a separate institution was not appropriate: “The school would not only have full control of the money and the governing, but the foundation would be required to guarantee well over seven figures and have to guarantee this funding with no direct government or operational control.”
So, what to do? Apparently the school will be focusing on programs that do not require accreditation. Such as a post professional program they have been preparing.
Also, according to Sean Malone the school is open to partnering with another accreditation institute that would allow the school to grant degrees.
Image of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation