State lawmakers eye accreditation policy changes as new agency forms
Danielle McLean
April 30, 2026
Recent laws and proposals could make it easier for public colleges to leave their accreditors for the nascent Commission for Public Higher Education.
A growing number of Republican-controlled states have introduced legislative and policy proposals that would allow their public colleges to leave their long-standing accreditors for a newly founded accrediting body.
The Commission for Public Higher Education, a nascent accrediting body, is moving to potentially take on those and other public institutions as members. The CPHE is financially backed by the state of Florida and the Trump administration and overseen largely by state university system appointees, a model that’s raised alarms among some critics.
Recent state legislation has aimed to make it easier for colleges to move to CPHE or other accreditors.
