Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization: The Secretary's Recognition of Accrediting Agencies; Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended; Student Assistance General Provisions

What it does

The Department revises the existing accrediting agency recognition regulations to implement the directives set forth in Executive Order 14279, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, and other Administration priorities, align the regulations more closely with statute, and reduce regulatory burden.

The Education Department's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

3 parts of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

34 CFR 600, 34 CFR 602, 34 CFR 668

Compared with

The Education Department has published 16 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 13 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

2 earlier Federal Register documents under regulation identifier 1840-AD82 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• Aug. 20, 2026 Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization: The Secretary's Recognition of Accrediting Agencies: Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended, Student Assistance General Provisions
• Jan. 27, 2026 Intent To establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. Intent To Establish Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

What happens next and when

This final rule is effective July 1, 2027.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket ED-2025-OPE-1042 on Regulations.gov
• Title 34 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register