U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America’s Higher Education Accreditation System
January 26, 2026
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) today announced its intent to establish the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee to develop proposed regulations that would, among other goals, simplify the Secretary’s recognition of emerging and existing accreditors; examine the extent to which accreditation contributes to rising higher education costs and credential inflation; safeguard against undue influence from related private trade associations; eliminate standards or policies that discriminate on the basis of immutable characteristics; and refocus quality assurance and improvement on data-driven student outcomes.
The AIM committee will advance President Trump’s vision to reform and strengthen the Nation’s higher education accreditation system, as outlined in Executive Order 14279, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education.
Since taking office one year ago, the Trump Administration has worked to reform the broken accreditation system by ending the moratorium on new accreditors put in place by the Biden Administration and making it easier for colleges and universities to change accreditors to those which better align with their missions and values. The Trump Administration has also announced its intent to rewrite the Accreditation Handbook. The Department’s rulemaking to revise federal regulations governing accreditation will build on and expand this important work.
