Inside Higher Ed
Jessica Blake
October 30, 2026
President Trump’s long-standing promise to overhaul college accreditation was fulfilled Thursday as the Education Department finalized regulations that include new standards for intellectual diversity and how accreditors police civil rights law.
Some argue that the changes politicize the determination of which colleges get aid and puts Trump closer to his larger goal of reclaiming institutions from the “radical left.” The Education Department’s chief higher ed official, Nicholas Kent, said that the rule will instead shift focus of accreditors away from ideological and procedural requirements and toward student success.