The U.S. Department of Education announced its intent to establish the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee. The committee would develop proposed regulations aimed at modernizing the federal accreditation system.
Key goals include simplifying the Secretary’s recognition of both emerging and existing accreditors, examining the role accreditation plays in rising higher education costs and credential inflation, and safeguarding against undue influence from related private trade associations. The effort would also seek to eliminate accreditation standards or policies that discriminate on the basis of immutable characteristics and refocus quality assurance on data-driven student outcomes.
The deadline to submit nominations for negotiators is February 27, 2026. To nominate a negotiator, please email negregnominations@ed.gov. The AIM Committee will convene for two five-day sessions in April and May. The Department has not prejudged the outcome of the rulemaking process and will solicit feedback from negotiators and the public prior to publishing a final rule.
The AIM committee will address the following topics:
- Deregulation: The Department will address regulations that impede the entry of new accreditors, reduce burdensome and duplicative requirements that hinder efficient reviews, and require accrediting agencies to enforce their standards in ways that minimize unnecessary costs and administrative burden on institutions.
- Student Outcomes: The Department intends to amend its regulations to establish expectations that accrediting agencies assess quality using data-driven student outcomes, rather than unlawful DEI-based standards.
- Merit: The Department intends to revise regulations to ensure that accreditors’ standards comply with all federal civil rights laws and prohibit standards or policies that require or facilitate discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics, such as race-based scholarships.
- Integrity: The Department will ensure that accrediting agencies and institutions do not mislead students or the public with misrepresentative labels, such as: “regional accreditor;” strengthen requirements to maintain greater separation between accrediting agencies and related trade associations; and improve college affordability by reforming transfer-of-credit policies that force students to unnecessarily repeat coursework and incur additional debt.
The proposed issues for negotiation in the Committee include but may not be limited to:
- Simplification and streamlining of the Department’s regulations for recognition and review of accrediting agencies, including superfluous requirements for recognition of new accrediting agencies that reduce competition and institutional choice among those agencies, and procedures for institutions to change accrediting agencies so that institutions are not forced to comply with standards that are antithetical to their values and missions.
- Revision of criteria and related regulations used by the Secretary to recognize accrediting agencies, including emphasizing criteria and standards requirements that effectively focus on student achievement and outcomes, high educational quality, and high-value programs, and removing criteria that are anti-competitive, discriminatory, or which contribute to credential inflation and escalating tuition costs.
- Amending requirements for accrediting agencies’ standards, application of such standards, and oversight of member institutions and programs, including requiring all accrediting agencies and associations to have standards that consider program-level student achievement and outcomes data to improve such outcomes without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex; ensuring that accrediting agency procedures for taking action on noncompliance findings resulting from the Office of Civil Rights investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) or Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) provide for expeditious resolution and actions; and ensuring that any other information provided by the Secretary regarding an institution’s record of compliance with its Federal program responsibilities is expeditiously addressed and acted upon.
- Review of accrediting agencies’ concurrent oversight responsibilities in the “regulatory triad” of accrediting agencies, States, and the Department, and determining what accreditation standards and related regulations are needed, or should be eliminated, to ensure that accrediting agency standards do not contravene Federal or State law.
- Review of the role that accrediting agency standards have played in promoting violations of Federal law, including unlawful discrimination by member institutions under the guise of accreditation standards for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and adoption of appropriate regulatory safeguards to ensure that accredited institutions provide high-quality, high-value programs that are free from unlawful discrimination and other violations of Federal law.
- Determination of whether the current regulations in 34 CFR 602.18 and other regulations should be clarified or expanded to ensure that the use of new learning models and innovative program delivery approaches by accredited institutions is not impeded by accreditation standards or accrediting agency decisions.
- Expansion of current regulations on accreditation standards for faculty to include support for and appropriate prioritization of intellectual diversity amongst faculty in order to advance academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and student achievement and learning outcomes.
- Amending the standards governing when an accrediting agency is deemed separate and independent from any related, associated, or affiliated trade association or membership organizations.
- Technical changes and corrections to the regulations for recognition and review of accrediting agencies and other related Title IV program regulations.
- Addressing other Administration priorities relating to accreditation.
“Accreditation functions as the central nervous system of higher education, and the system cannot be made healthy without addressing its deepest flaws,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent. “Rather than focusing on whether member institutions offer high-quality programs that benefit students and the workforce, the current accreditation regime has become a protectionist system that shields existing players, fuels rising costs, drives credential inflation, adds administrative bloat, allows undue influence from related trade associations, and promotes ideologically driven initiatives. We welcome nominations from key stakeholders willing to challenge the status quo to help reform this unhealthy system, restore accountability, and ensure our higher education institutions deliver high-quality postsecondary education.”
SOURCES:
PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America’s Higher Education Accreditation System
FEDERAL REGISTER: Intent to Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee