The U.S. Department of Education said on Thursday that it will accelerate the process for colleges and universities to switch accreditors, eliminating what officials called “unnecessary requirements” that hinder institutional innovation.
The policy shift was laid out in a “Dear Colleague” letter signed by Deputy Under Secretary James P. Bergeron and comes in direct response to a recent executive order by President Donald Trump. The presidential order seeks to reform the federal accreditation system by targeting accrediting bodies that mandate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) standards, which the administration says amount to unlawful race-based discrimination.
In the letter, the department said it would no longer scrutinize the underlying reasons institutions provide for changing accreditors and would expedite the review of such requests….