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The Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) committee will convene for two five-day sessions in April and May to develop proposed regulations implementing President Donald Trump's vision for accreditation reform, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.
The move represents the Trump administration's most comprehensive effort yet to overhaul a system the president has called his "secret weapon" for reshaping higher education. Accreditors serve as gatekeepers for billions in federal student aid, and institutions cannot participate in Title IV programs such as Pell Grants and federal student loans without their approval.
"Accreditation functions as the central nervous system of higher education, and the system cannot be made healthy without addressing its deepest flaws," said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.
The proposed regulations would address four key areas: deregulation to allow easier entry for new accreditors; refocusing quality standards on "data-driven student outcomes" rather than what the department characterized as "unlawful DEI-based standards"; ensuring accreditor standards comply with federal civil rights laws and prohibit "discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics, such as race-based scholarships"; and strengthening separation between accrediting agencies and related trade associations.
The committee will also examine "the extent to which accreditation contributes to rising higher education costs and credential inflation" and work to eliminate standards the administration considers ideologically driven, according to the announcement.
The rulemaking effort builds on executive actions Trump took after returning to office in 2025. In April, he signed Executive Order 14279 directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to make it easier for colleges to switch accreditors. The department subsequently lifted a Biden-era moratorium on reviewing applications for new accreditors and revoked 2022 guidance that had outlined a more stringent process for institutions changing accrediting agencies.
Those policy changes have already begun reshaping the accreditation landscape. In June, six Southern public university systems announced plans to form a new accreditor called the Commission for Public Higher Education. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, announcing the new agency, echoed the administration's criticisms of existing accreditors' diversity standards.
The administration has also used accreditation as leverage against individual institutions. In June, the Education Department notified Columbia University's accreditor that the Ivy League institution had violated antidiscrimination laws and no longer met accreditation standards. Columbia subsequently agreed to pay $221 million and make policy changes to restore federal research funding.
Similar pressure was applied to Harvard University in July, though its accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, did not take action and stated the federal government cannot direct it to revoke a college's accreditation.
The new regulations would provide for "expeditious resolution and actions" if accreditors' member institutions are found in violation of civil rights laws, according to the Federal Register notice.
The American Bar Association, which accredits law schools, has already responded to federal pressure by placing a moratorium on its diversity standard and undertaking a review of its standards. Texas and Florida have dropped requirements that lawyers obtain degrees from ABA-accredited institutions.
The department said that it "has not prejudged the outcome of the rulemaking process and will solicit feedback from negotiators and the public prior to publishing a final rule."
Nominations for committee negotiators are due Feb. 27. The department held public hearings in late April and early May and received multiple comments calling for accreditation reform.
Section 492 of the Higher Education Act requires the education secretary to solicit public involvement through negotiated rulemaking before publishing proposed regulations for Title IV programs.
