Revamping the rules for accreditation is a top priority for the Trump administration.
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | Ryan Herron/iStock/Getty Images | Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress
After four days of dense and occasionally contentious discussions over the Trump administration’s proposed overhaul of accreditation, an advisory committee tasked with reviewing the plan reached consensus on the slate of changes.
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.
