December 2025

December 18, 2025

Introduction

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has developed a new publication entitled Policy Watch. This publication provides accreditation stakeholders and CHEA-eligible institutions with updates on developments affecting accreditation from the White House, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and the federal courts.

We hope you find this publication informative and useful.

U.S. Department of Education

In an effort to reduce its size, USDE has announced the following partnerships transferring responsibilities and detailing employees to other agencies. These new partnerships with the Departments of Labor (DOL), Interior (DOI), Health and Human Services (HHS), and State mark a major step toward improving the management of select USDE programs by leveraging partner agencies’ administrative expertise and experience.  

  • USDE and DOL are establishing the Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership. DOL will take on a greater role in administering federal K-12 programs. With oversight by USDE, DOL will manage competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate USDE’s programs with employment and training programs DOL already administers. 
     
  • USDE and DOL are establishing the Postsecondary Education Partnership to coordinate postsecondary education and workforce development programs. DOL will take on a greater role in administering most postsecondary education grant programs authorized under the Higher Education Act. With oversight by USDE, DOL will manage grant funds, provide technical assistance, and integrate USDE’s postsecondary education programs into programs DOL already administers. 
     
  • USDE and DOI are establishing the Indian Education Partnership to improve Native American education in the United States. DOI will take on a greater role in administering Indian Education programs relating to elementary and secondary education, higher education, career and technical education, and vocational rehabilitation. With oversight by USDE, DOI will manage competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate USDE’s Indian Education programs with programs DOI already administers.  
  • USDE and HHS are establishing the Foreign Medical Accreditation Partnership to evaluate whether the standards of accreditation for foreign medical schools are comparable with the standards for medical schools in the U.S. HHS will oversee the work of the affiliated National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA).  
     
  • USDE and HHS are establishing the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Partnership to improve on-campus childcare support for parents enrolled in college. HHS will manage existing competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate USDE’s CCAMPIS program.  
     
  • USDE and State are establishing the International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership to administer programs under the Fulbright-Hays grant. This partnership will allow State, which already administers the Fulbright Program, to oversee all foreign education programs and align them with the national security and foreign policy priorities of the United States. 

In its effort to change accreditation, USDE has announced seven priorities under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). These priorities include encouraging accreditation reform and building capacity for high-quality short-term programs:  

  • Accreditation ($7M): 
    • The area of national need focusing on accreditation reform is divided into two priorities that address barriers to switching institutional accreditors and creating new accrediting agencies.  
    • The Supporting Institutions in Changing Accrediting Agencies priority will directly support college and university efforts to change their current accrediting.  
    • Supporting the Creation of New Accrediting Agencies priority will support the development and launch of new accrediting agencies.  
  • Short-Term Programs ($50M): 
    • The focus is on high quality short-term programs that support the creation and expansion of workforce aligned academic programs eligible for Workforce Pell Grants. 
    • The Creation of New High-Quality Short-Term Programs will support the development of new programs that meet the eligibility requirements of the Workforce Pell Grants program.  
    • The Expansion of Existing High-Quality Short-Term Programs priority will support the expansion of existing short-term programs.  

The Department of Education has announced plans to pursue new regulations on accreditation as part of its regulatory agenda. Details and timelines have not yet been released but it looks like it will be in the spring of 2026. 

Additionally, the Department’s negotiated rulemaking sessions in December and January are expected to address a range of topics, including quality assurance standards for Workforce Pell Grant programs. These provisions were enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026. While the negotiated rulemaking committee has reached consensus on proposed regulations for Workforce Pell, negotiations related to Accountability will   occur in January. Final rules for these provisions have not yet been formalized or announced.

Under normal circumstances, institutions have eight months to prepare for implementation when new rules are announced. In this case, however, institutions will have as little as two to three months to prepare for implementation and reporting requirements. The process remaining for finalizing these rules is: 1) USDE must complete the negotiated rulemaking process; 2) USDE must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking; 3) the public must have time to comment on the proposed rules; 4) USDE must review and respond to the public’s comments; and 5) USDE must then publish final rules. This will give institutions very little time to prepare for compliance.

CHEA will continue to inform members as additional details about topics and schedules become available. 

The U.S. Department of Education has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking stakeholder feedback on potential updates to the Accreditation Handbook. The Department aims to improve clarity, transparency, and efficiency in the accreditor recognition process and to reduce unnecessary administrative burden. Input received through this RFI may also inform future accreditation regulatory reforms and could be referenced in upcoming negotiated rulemakings over the next year.

CHEA plans to submit comments in response to the RFI and encourages recognized accreditors and institutions to review the request and consider submitting their own comments to ensure the accrediting community’s perspectives are fully represented.

Appointments

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon appointed six new members to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), including higher education experts Robert Eitel, Joshua Figueira, Dr. Jay Greene, Adam Kissel, Dr. Steven Taylor, and Emilee Reynolds, the student representative. The appointees will serve a six-year term assessing the process of accreditation and institutional eligibility for Title IV funds.  

NACIQI is composed of 18 higher education professionals who are appointed by the Department and Congress for six-year terms. The secretary of Education appoints six members to the committee, including the student representative, while each chamber of Congress appoints six members.  

USDE has stated that the final appointee will be announced soon. 

National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)

The summer NACIQI meeting was held December 16, 2025. Dr. Jay Greene, a new appointee to NACIQI, was elected chair of the committee. Under Secretary Nicholas Kent spoke about the Administration’s vision for accreditation going forward stating that there is a need to focus on student outcomes, accreditors that have failed to remove accreditation from poor institutions, and accreditation as a barrier to innovation. USDE plans to hold a negotiated rulemaking to address these issues.

The White House

President Donald Trump has signed two Executive Orders that directly affect accreditation: 

1. Executive Order on the Wind-Down of the U.S. Department of Education (March 20, 2025) 

This order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “wind down the operations of the U.S. Department of Education to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,” returning education authority to the states while maintaining “uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” 

While the order calls for the closure of the Department, this action cannot occur without Congressional approval, and current analysis suggests there are insufficient votes in the Senate to eliminate the agency. 

2. Executive Order on Accreditation Oversight (April 23, 2025) 

This order directs Secretary McMahon to investigate and hold accreditors accountable for institutions that engage in discriminatory practices through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and to streamline the accreditation process to promote high-quality education and competition among accreditors. 

CHEA notes that there is significant concern about potential regulations the Department may develop to implement these orders. CHEA continues to monitor developments closely and will update members as more information becomes available. 

Proposed Legislation

Two bills concerning higher education accreditation were recently marked up by the Education Committee, which means the bill was reviewed and approved in the House of Representatives: 

H.R. 2516 – Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025 

Sponsored by Representative Burgess Owens, this bill would prohibit accreditors from requiring institutions to comply with social justice or DEI-related standards. It passed the committee on a party-line vote. 

The bill also seeks to codify an overhaul of the accreditation system, restricting DEI standards and reinforcing protections for religious missions. A similar bill passed by the House last year but was not taken up by the Senate. 

H.R. 4054 – The Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act 

This bill would allow states to serve as accreditors and introduces a range of new requirements, including: 

  • It would prohibit any employee of, or person connected to, an institution accredited by the accrediting organization from serving the accrediting commission that accredits the institution to which they are connected. It would measure student success on a financial model (income vs cost of the program). These are among the reasons not to support this bill.

CHEA cannot support the bill in its current form. Due to opposition from higher education associations and institutions, the bill is unlikely to advance in the House, and if considered, it is expected to fail in the Senate. 

CHEA will continue to monitor legislative developments in both chambers and provide updates as proposals move forward. 

New Accreditor Initiative

Six states—Florida, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia—have announced plans to create a new accrediting organization for their public institutions, the Commission for Public Higher Education. 

Gov. Landry created the Higher Education Reform Task Force to determine if Louisiana Higher Education Institutions should seek membership in the Commission for Public Higher Education (CPHE). The task force voted in favor of joining the new accreditation agency. Louisiana is the seventh state to join CPHE. 

Ten institutions are applying to join the Commission for Public Higher Education, three from North Carolina, three from Florida, two from Georgia, and two from Texas. 

Typically, the USDE recognition process for a new accreditor takes three to five years. However, the April 2025 Executive Order on accreditation directs the Department to establish an accelerated approval process for new accreditors. 

Given these uncertainties, CHEA recognition remains an important and stable indicator of academic quality and integrity. CHEA was asked for and provided comments on the proposed standards for this new accreditor. CHEA will continue to monitor developments closely.