Institutions Prepare for New Accreditation Regulations
Jessica Blake
May 18, 2026
As the second week of accreditation negotiations gets underway, experts say the operational cost of the new regulations may be high for institutions—but the payoff could be worth it.
As the Department of Education heads into its second week of negotiations over accreditation policies, the proposed regulations remain largely unchanged, higher education experts say. That has triggered concerns among institutions and their accreditors about the operational burdens that the sweeping regulatory proposal could impose.
The draft—first released in mid-April and updated on May 11—could dramatically change how accreditors oversee colleges and what institutions need to do to comply.
So far, the Trump administration’s regulations have faced significant pushback from accreditation agencies, colleges and universities—
