PPT Backs Reforming Higher Education Accreditation Regulations

PPT Backs Reforming Higher Education Accreditation Regulations

  • September 21, 2026
Public comment urges stronger protections against discrimination, ideological mandates and accreditor monopolies

Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) submitted a public comment supporting the Department of Education’s proposed reforms to the nation’s higher education accreditation system while recommending additional safeguards to strengthen the final rule.

The proposed rule would prohibit accreditors from pressuring schools to violate federal or state anti-discrimination laws, protect religious institutions and academic freedom, promote competition among accreditors, require accreditation standards to be published and tied to educational quality, and place greater emphasis on student outcomes and affordability.

PPT’s comment urges the Department to close a remaining loophole that could allow accreditors to impose diversity requirements written in facially race-neutral terms. It also recommends ensuring accreditors are genuinely independent from affiliated membership and advocacy organizations, preventing unpublished guidance or outside standards from creating hidden obligations, and requiring costly accreditation demands to produce meaningful educational benefits.

The public comment builds on PPT’s earlier letter urging the Department not to renew the American Bar Association’s law school accreditation authority. Several of the abuses identified in that letter, including discriminatory diversity mandates, pressure on religious institutions, anti-competitive conduct and insufficient separation between the ABA and its accreditation arm, illustrate the need for the Department’s proposed reforms.

“Accreditors wield enormous influence over what schools teach, how they operate and whether their students can enter their chosen professions,” said PPT Communications Director Alexa Moutevelis. “The Department’s proposed rule would help prevent accreditors from using their power to impose ideological agendas, encourage unlawful discrimination, and saddle schools and students with costly requirements that do little to improve education. The ABA’s conduct shows why these reforms are badly needed, and PPT is urging the Department to make the final protections as clear and durable as possible.”
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