Next Accreditation System – Interview with Andy Roth, Member, Mintz Levin
On April 23, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to stop accrediting organizations from including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements as part of accreditation standards....more
On April 23, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order called “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education” along with a fact sheet about the EO and six other EOs relating to education....more
On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order, “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education.” This Executive Order would require agencies that currently accredit colleges and universities to overhaul...more
Requires the Secretary of Education to hold accreditors accountable who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring accreditation seeking institutions to engage in...more
On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (the “Executive Order”) directing the Secretary of Education to investigate and hold accountable accreditors of institutions of higher education (“IHEs”) that...more
Last month, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 8 (HB 8) into law. In addition to establishing a new computer science requirement for high school graduation and certain age verification requirements to...more
The Accreditation Overhaul for North Carolina (and Florida) Colleges - Last month, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 8 (HB 8) into law. In addition to establishing a new computer science requirement for...more
The U.S. Department of Education has terminated federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as a national accrediting agency. The loss of recognition will affect certain...more
On July 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) issued three new guidance documents pertaining to institutions adding or changing an institutional accreditor. This new guidance was announced by Department...more
In a recent Federal Register notice published December 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education announced a series of continuing waivers and modifications of statutory and regulatory provisions related to the COVID-19...more
Updated as of August 27, 2020 - Higher education institutions worldwide are striving to meet their students’ educational needs while working to reduce and decelerate the spread of COVID-19, commonly known as the...more
On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education issued an announcement, “Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19),” to address concerns arising with respect...more
On November 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (the “Department”) published in the Federal Register final regulations (the “Final Rule”) governing the recognition of accrediting agencies for postsecondary education and...more
On 1 November the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published a final rule that addresses topics related to two prongs of the regulatory triad: accreditation and state authorization. In this alert, we address certain aspects...more
On June 12, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (the “Department”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Proposed Rule”) to revise its regulations governing the recognition of accrediting agencies for postsecondary...more
Federal Updates - Secretary DeVos testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and answered questions on the president’s FY20 budget request, arming teachers, school choice, and other issues. ...more
In a turn of events that seemed unlikely just weeks ago, on April 3 the negotiated rulemaking committee the US Department of Education assembled to consider rules focused on accreditation and innovation over the past four...more
The negotiated rulemaking committee charged with considering rules affecting accreditation and innovation concluded its second session last week, during which the panel of negotiators focused heavily on revisions the US...more
The team of negotiators working on the Department of Education’s proposals for substantially revising rules affecting the accreditation process and encouraging innovation will have to face a very basic problem: defining...more
Despite winter weather that shut down the remaining parts of the federal government on Monday, the US Department of Education and the panel of 20-plus negotiators this week concluded their first round of discussions on a...more
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will convene a negotiated rulemaking committee in Washington, D.C. 14-16 January 2019 to begin discussions about proposals to revise the ED regulations related to the Title IV federal...more
On May 9, 2018, the Office of Management and Budget issued the Spring 2018 Agency Rule List, which indicates that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has proposed a two-year delay of the distance education rule that was set...more
Secretary Betsy DeVos announced earlier today that the US Department of Education has retroactively reinstated the federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools as of December 12, 2016,...more
The Department of Education (ED) has launched a new online database intended to provide current and prospective students, as well as the broader community, with current information on the accreditation status of institutions...more
In December 2016, the Secretary of Education issued a decision adopting the decision of the Department of Education’s Senior Department Official terminating and withdrawing the Department’s recognition of the Accrediting...more