Notice2021-14741
Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purposes of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
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Published
July 12, 2021
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
This notice provides information to members of the public on submitting written comments for accrediting agencies currently undergoing review for purposes of recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 130 (Monday, July 12, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 130 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36532-36533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14741]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purposes
of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
AGENCY: Accreditation Group, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education.
ACTION: Call for written third-party comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides information to members of the public on
submitting written comments for accrediting agencies currently
undergoing review for purposes of recognition by the U.S. Secretary of
Education.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Herman Bounds, Director, Accreditation
Group, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 270-01, Washington, DC 20202, telephone:
(202) 453-7615, or email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a1c9c4d3ccc0cf8fc3ced4cfc5d2e1c4c58fc6ced7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="214944534c404f0f434e544f45526144450f464e57">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This request for written third-party
comments concerning the performance of accrediting agencies under
review by the Secretary of Education is required by Sec. 496(n)(1)(A)
of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and pertains to
the summer 2022 meeting of the National Advisory Committee on
Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). The meeting date and
location have not been determined, but will be announced in a later
Federal Register notice. In addition, a later Federal Register notice
will describe how to register to provide oral comments at the meeting.
Agencies Under Review and Evaluation: The Department requests
written comments from the public on the following accrediting agencies,
which are currently undergoing review and evaluation by the
Accreditation Group, and which will be reviewed at the summer 2022
NACIQI meeting.
The agencies are listed by the type of application each agency has
submitted. Please note, each agency's current scope of recognition is
indicated below. If any agency requests a change to its scope of
recognition, identified are both the current scope of recognition and
the requested scope of recognition.
Applications for Renewal of Recognition
1. Association for Biblical Higher Education, Commission on
Accreditation. Scope of recognition: The accreditation and pre-
accreditation (``Candidate Status'') of institutions of biblical higher
education in the United States offering undergraduate certificates,
associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, graduate certificates, and
master's degrees, including the accreditation of educational programs
offered via distance education.
2. American Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council
for Occupational Therapy Education. Scope of recognition: The
accreditation of occupational therapy educational programs offering the
professional master's degree, combined baccalaureate/master's degree,
and occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) degree; the accreditation of
occupational therapy assistant programs offering the associate degree
or a certificate; and the accreditation of these programs offered via
distance education. Requested scope of recognition: The pre-
accreditation and accreditation throughout the United States of
occupational therapy education programs offering the professional
master's degree, combined baccalaureate/master's degree, and
occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) degree; and occupational therapy
assistant programs offering the baccalaureate degree, associate degree,
or a certificate; including those programs offered via distance
education.
3. Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Scope of
recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation within the United
States of professional degree programs in pharmacy leading to the
degree of Doctor of Pharmacy, including those programs offered via
distance education.
4. Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., Accreditation
Commission. Scope of recognition: The pre-accreditation (provisional)
and accreditation of both clinical pastoral education (CPE) centers and
Certified Educator CPE programs within the United States, including
those that offer those programs via distance education.
5. American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Scope of recognition: The accreditation of predoctoral dental education
programs (leading to the D.D.S. or D.M.D. degree), advanced dental
education programs, and allied dental education programs that are fully
operational or have attained ``Initial Accreditation'' status,
including programs offered via distance education.
6. Distance Education Accrediting Commission. Scope of recognition:
The accreditation of postsecondary institutions in the United States
that offer degree and/or non-degree programs primarily by the distance
or correspondence education method up to
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and including the professional doctoral degree, including those
institutions that are specifically certified by the agency as
accredited for Title IV purposes.
7. Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools. Scope of
recognition: The accreditation of postsecondary, non-degree granting
institutions that offer all or part of their educational programs via
distance education modalities in the United States.
8. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on
Colleges (``SACSCOC''). Scope of recognition: The accreditation and
pre-accreditation (``Candidate for Accreditation'') of degree-granting
institutions of higher education in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, including the accreditation of programs
offered via distance and correspondence education within these
institutions. This recognition extends to the SACSCOC Board of Trustees
and the Appeals Committee of the College Delegate Assembly on cases of
initial candidacy or initial accreditation and for continued
accreditation or candidacy.
Compliance Reports
1. New York State Board of Regents, State Education Department,
Office of the Professions (Public Postsecondary Vocational Education,
Practical Nursing). Scope of Recognition: State agency for the approval
of public postsecondary vocational education in the field of practical
nursing offered by a Board of Cooperative Educational Services, an
Educational Opportunity Center, City School Districts, and County
Boards of Supervisors to prepare persons for licensed practical nursing
careers in the State of New York. The compliance report includes
findings of noncompliance with Criteria in 34 CFR 603 as referenced in
the SDO decision letter dated May 27, 2020 available under NACIQI
meeting date 02/27/2020 at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/PublicDocuments">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/PublicDocuments</a>.
Submission of Written Comments Regarding a Specific Accrediting Agency
Under Review
Written comments about the recognition of any of the accrediting
agencies listed above must be received by August 15, 2021, in the
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f1a599988395a190838588b29e9c9c949f8582b19495df969e87"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7a39f9e8593a79685838eb4989a9a92998384b79293d9909881">[email protected]</span></a> mailbox. Please include in the subject line
``Written Comments: (agency name).'' The electronic mail (email) must
include the name(s), title, organization/affiliation, mailing address,
email address, and telephone number of the person(s) making the
comment. Comments should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document or
in a medium compatible with Microsoft Word (not a PDF file) that is
attached to an email or provided in the body of an email message.
Comments about an agency that has submitted a compliance report
scheduled for review by the Department must relate to the criteria for
recognition cited in the senior Department official's letter that
requested the report, or in the Secretary's appeal decision, if any.
Comments about an agency that has submitted a petition for initial
recognition, renewal of recognition, or an expansion of scope must
relate to the agency's compliance with the Criteria for the Recognition
of Accrediting Agencies, which are available at <a href="http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html">http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html</a>.
Only written materials submitted by the deadline to the email
address listed in this notice, and in accordance with these
instructions, become part of the official record concerning agencies
scheduled for review and are considered by the Department and NACIQI in
their deliberations.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free
internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System
at: <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys">www.gpo.gov/fdsys</a>. At this site you can view this document, as well
as all other documents of the Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF,
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site. You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1011c; 20 U.S.C. 1099b.
Annmarie Weisman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, Office
of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2021-14741 Filed 7-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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