Demystifying College Accreditors, Trump’s Latest Higher Education Target

HEADLINES

Demystifying College Accreditors, Trump’s Latest Higher Education Target (Forbes, April 25, 2025) Any college worth enrolling at must be accredited by an independent, federally recognized accrediting agency. Any effort to shut down an accreditor would ultimately play out in federal courts. By that time, many of ACICS’s schools had left or closed, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation—essentially an accreditor of accreditors—did not recognize the agency.

Trump Executive Order Targets DEI in College Accreditation (Best Colleges, April 25, 2025) The Order directs the education secretary to potentially suspend or terminate accreditors that include diversity, equity, and inclusion among their accreditation standards. Cynthia Jackson Hammond, President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, said in a statement that accreditors already work with institutions and programs when there is a “shortfall in outcomes.” She described the relationship between institutions and accreditors as one “of trust and responsible actions.” Jackson Hammond added, “The independence of the accreditation process is essential in order to preserve and protect the integrity of quality assurance in higher education.”

Trump Orders HE Accreditation Overhaul to Stamp Out DEI (University World News, April 25, 2025) The President signed an Executive Order this week that will restructure the nation’s system of college and university accreditation. Within hours of the Executive Order being signed, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the national organization that represents more than 60 such organizations, issued a statement striking back at the administration’s claim that “accreditors have routinely approved low-quality institutions, ultimately failing students, families and American taxpayers,” In a news release, CHEA said: “The standards of accrediting organizations require institutions [that is, colleges] to provide evidential data that contributes to the success of all students, that is, course completion, graduate rates, faculty qualifications, student learning experiences, innovative practices [and] application of appropriate resources. When there is a shortfall in outcomes [by colleges], accreditors work with institutions to establish benchmarks for achievements.”

Trump Executive Order Changes College Accreditation: Who Could Be Impacted (Newsweek, April 24, 2025) President Trump’s Executive Order that aims to alter how colleges and universities are accredited, reshaping a fundamental aspect of American higher education. “Currently, only the Department of Education and the non-governmental Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize accrediting bodies for institutions and provide guidelines for these accreditors. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Order will change the criteria accrediting agencies must use when evaluating universities, requiring them to include measures of "intellectual diversity" and "student outcomes.”

‘The Gatekeepers’: Trump’s Action on Accreditation Sparks Concerns Over Government Intrusion (Higher Ed Dive, April 24, 2025) The President signed a directive seeking to punish accreditors for diversity criteria while easing the path for new quality-assurance bodies. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an industry group that both vets and advocates for accrediting bodies, issued a statement Wednesday largely describing the work, standards and innovation already in place at accreditors and institutions. “Our focus is and always will be academic assurances,” said Cynthia Jackson Hammond, the organization’s president. “CHEA-recognized accreditation organizations meet those standards.” She closed by saying, “The independence of the accreditation process is essential in order to preserve and protect the integrity of quality assurance in higher education.”

Trump’s Latest Executive Orders Target Accreditation, Foreign Gifts (Inside Higher Ed, April 23, 2025) President Trump took aim at college accreditors in an Executive Order signed Wednesday that targets two accrediting agencies for investigation and suggests others could lose federal recognition altogether. The Council of Higher Education Accreditation said Trump’s directive would “affect the value and independence of accreditation.”

Trump’s Executive Order Bashes Accreditors, Blames DEI for Low Standards and Poor Outcomes (Chronicle of Higher Education, April 23, 2025) President Trump signed an Executive Order taking aim at college accreditors Wednesday, describing the agencies as lax in ensuring academic quality and “improperly focused on compelling adoption of discriminatory ideology,” meaning standards that require colleges and programs to address diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition to demanding that accreditors abandon goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Order seeks to make it easier for institutions to change accreditors and to expedite federal approval of new accreditors.