Trump's Accreditation Overhaul Advances

An advisory committee reached consensus on proposed changes to the accreditation system for the Trump administration’s overhaul. The Education Department will proceed with regulatory steps that include receiving and reviewing public feedback. If the final accreditation rule is issued by Nov. 1, the changes will take effect July 1 of the following year. Committee negotiations occurred over four days with occasional public tension, while many disagreements were resolved through caucuses with Education Department officials. Education Department officials said the proposals would overhaul a broken accreditation system, reduce barriers to innovation and competition, and lower higher education costs. They also said the changes would make it easier for new accreditors to gain federal recognition and allow institutions to exit dysfunctional relationships with legacy accreditors.

"Education Department officials argue that the proposals advanced this week will overhaul a broken accreditation system, which they cast as a costly barrier to innovation and competition. They also claimed that the package will help lower the cost of higher education. "Accreditation is no longer a reliable indicator of quality, but with this committee's work, we are moving toward a system where accreditation once again means something," Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent said Thursday."

""The changes agreed to today will make it easier for new accreditors to gain federal recognition, introducing competition and choice into a stagnant system. It will make it easier for institutions to leave dysfunctional relationships with legacy accreditors that engage in ideological coercion or interfere in decisions properly reserved for state governments, boards of trustees or institutional leadership.""

"Now, the Education Department can move forward on the next steps to finalize the regulatory changes, which include receiving and reviewing public feedback. If the department issues the final accreditation rule by Nov. 1, the overhaul will take effect July 1 of next year."

"Negotiators on the Accreditation, Innovation and Modernization Committee spent the better part of four days this week in a windowless room at the U.S. Department of Education hammering out the proposal. While there were occasional flashes of tension in public view, many of the disagreements were hashed out behind closed doors with ED officials and committee members calling multiple caucuses across the rule-making session to resolve points of contention."

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