Last week, we covered the Trump administration’s executive order (EO) on accreditation released on April 23.
- Catch up quick: The EO broadly focused on removing DEI in accreditation standards and shifting accreditation to be more “student-oriented,” with a focus on streamlining the recognition process for both current and new accreditors and the process for institutions switching accreditors.
On May 1, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) took its first action on the EO through a “Dear Colleague” letter (DCL) announcing that it will begin reviewing applications for new accreditors and setting forth a new process for institutions seeking to switch accreditors. The guidance indicates that, if the Department does not approve or deny an institution’s change in accreditor within 30 days of the date of its receipt of a complete notice of this change, the change will be automatically approved.
In addition to recognizing new accreditors and streamlining approvals, the April 23 EO included several other directives for the Secretary of Education to fulfill, including creating an experimental site to establish new quality assurance pathways and mandating the use of data on program-level student outcomes to improve such outcomes, without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex.
Stay tuned: W/A will continue to closely follow ED’s actions to comply with the Trump administration’s EO. Questions? Reach out to us.
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