Proposed Rules on Accreditation Released

The Department of Education released proposed regulations last month that will bring substantial changes to the Title IV accreditation process. The Department has stated that it intends to publish final accreditation regulations by November 1, 2026, in order to implement the new rules on July 1, 2027.

The proposed regulations are virtually identical to a consensus draft that emerged from the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee, which reached agreement on regulatory changes in the spring (see NAICU’s AIM summary webpages for additional resources). Under the proposed rules, institutions and accreditors would confront new requirements on transfer of credit, accreditation standards, protections for civil liberties and rights, conflict of interest provisions governing accrediting agencies and related trade associations, and flexibility in establishing new accreditors, switching accreditors, or maintaining multiple forms of accreditation.

While some of the changes are less welcome than others, the proposed regulations represent a substantial improvement over the Department’s original proposal. NAICU is currently drafting comments that it plans to submit to the Department. Institutions that are interested in submitting comments should submit them by September 21 via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov.

For more information, please contact:
Jody Feder