U.S. Department of Education to establish AIM Committee on accreditation and institutional oversight

This rulemaking warrants university and college attention.  Although it will focus on requirements applicable directly to accreditors, those requirements will eventually flow down to institutions through accreditor standards, policies, and procedures.

Scope of the Committee

On April 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order to “reform our dysfunctional accreditation system so that colleges and universities focus on delivering high-quality academic programs at a reasonable price.”

ED proposed topics for negotiation in the AIM Committee in a Federal Register notice published January 27, 2026.  Proposed topics include:

1. Streamline accreditor recognition and review processes, remove barriers to entry for new accreditors, and ease institutions’ ability to change accreditors.
2. Revise recognition criteria to focus on student outcomes, educational quality, and program value, while removing purported anti‑competitive or discriminatory requirements or other requirements that drive up costs.
3. Amend accreditor standards and oversight to require program‑level outcomes data (without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex) and prompt action on Title VI/Title IX findings and other federal compliance concerns.
4. Review the accreditor role within the regulatory triad and eliminate or adjust standards that purportedly conflict with federal or state law.
5. Evaluate accreditor standards linked to potential violations of federal law, including those that may be tied to DEI requirements, and adopt safeguards to ensure programs remain high‑quality and non‑discriminatory.
6. Clarify or expand regulations to ensure innovative learning models and delivery approaches are not hindered by accreditation standards.
7. Expand faculty‑related standards to support and prioritize intellectual diversity to advance academic freedom and student learning.
8. Revise standards on accreditor independence from related trade associations or membership organizations.
9. Make technical corrections to accreditor recognition and Title IV regulations.
10. Address additional Administration accreditation priorities.

Committee membership

The AIM Committee will be composed of negotiators from relevant constituency groups involved in Title IV federal student aid programs.  Constituents include students, borrowers, or organizations representing students or borrowers; veterans and military service members; organizations that represent the public interest; organizations representing workforce development needs, professional associations, or employers; institutional and programmatic accrediting agencies; accrediting agencies not currently recognized by ED; public, private, and proprietary institutions of higher education; and state officials.

Request for Information on the Accreditation Handbook

On December 11, 2025, ED issued a Request for Information seeking feedback on modifications to the Accreditation Handbook designed “to reform the accreditation system to improve student outcomes.”  The Accreditation Handbook provides guidance to the public regarding accreditation requirements and guidance to accrediting agencies on the documentation required in an accreditor’s application for ED recognition.  An institution must be accredited by an ED-recognized accreditor in order to be eligible to participate in the federal student financial aid programs.

ED proposes to update the Accreditation Handbook to “ensure that the accrediting agency recognition process is transparent, efficient, and not unduly burdensome” and “aid reform of the accreditation process in an effort to realign accreditation with evaluating whether an institution provides a high-quality, high-value education for all students.”

On January 26, 2026, the American Council on Education, along with twenty-eight other higher education industry organizations, submitted comments to ED.  The organizations indicated that they:

• “[O]ppose any such measure to establish student achievement standards in the regulatory text or do anything that goes beyond the flexibility provided in the HEA.”
• “[S]upport accreditors creating a team of reviewers with a deep knowledge of the institution.”
• “[S]upport… this change [to streamline the process to switch accreditors] and hope that this process is codified into the regulations in addition to the sub-regulatory guidance that was issued
• “[O]ppose giving states the authority to determine institutional eligibility for federal student aid.”
• “[E]xpress concerns regarding the need for accreditors to address intellectual diversity on college and university campuses as well as the importance of ensuring that the accreditation handbook is not seen as the rule of law.”

Next steps

Nominations for committee members must be received by February 26, 2026.  The AIM Committee will meet in-person in Washington, DC for two sessions.  The first session is scheduled April 13-17, 2026, and the second session for May 18-22, 2026.  Members of the public can watch in person or by livestream.  The registration link will be posted on ED’s website.

Our Education practice remains a resource for institutions navigating accreditation issues or questions related to the negotiated rulemaking process. Please contact a member of our team if you have questions.

Authored by Stephanie Gold and Aaron Brosnan.