The Department of Education issued a final rule on Thursday revising accrediting agency recognition regulations to reduce administrative burdens and eliminate geographic restrictions. The rule implements Executive Order 14279, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education.

The Secretary designated all sections of the regulation for early implementation beginning on January 1, 2027, with the final rule effective July 1, 2027. The Department received 7,051 comments on the proposed regulations.

The rule eliminates the 'two-year rule' for initial recognition of agencies and removes prescriptive site visit mandates. It also eliminates unnecessary documentation requirements and rigid, overly long processing and procedural timelines for accrediting agencies.

Regulatory barriers impeding institutions' ability to change accrediting agencies or work with more than one agency are removed under the new framework. The rule eliminates geographic-scope distinctions for institutional accrediting agencies and makes anticompetitive behavior a negative factor in consideration of agency recognition.

A new review framework for oversight of key institutional accrediting agencies is introduced. Recognized accrediting agencies must apply standards in ways that minimize institutional administrative burden, avoid duplicative reporting, and support the implementation of lower-cost, higher-value educational models.

The rule eliminates previous regulatory exceptions that pose potential conflicts of interest. Accrediting agencies recognized by the Secretary must ensure that the institutions and programs they accredit have and apply policies consistent with all Federal and State laws. These agencies must also ensure that institutions respond appropriately to findings of noncompliance by competent authorities.

What's New

In 2019, the Department of Education issued a final rule that ended the recognition of accrediting agencies as 'regional' and clarified the appropriate use of the terms 'national' and 'regional' by recognized accrediting agencies. The Office of Postsecondary Education within the Department of Education is responsible for overseeing the recognition of accrediting agencies under 34 CFR part 602. Primary source: federalregister.gov