Notice2024-08770
Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purpose of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
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Published
April 24, 2024
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 the purpose of recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31171-31172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08770]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purpose
of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education, Accreditation Group, Office of
Postsecondary 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 the purpose 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, fifth floor, Washington, DC 20202, telephone:
(202) 453-7615, or email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b333e29363a357539342e353f281b3e3f753c342d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ce4e9fee1ede2a2eee3f9e2e8ffcce9e8a2ebe3fa">[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 section
496(n)(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and
pertains to the summer 2025 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.
Note: Written comments about the specific agencies identified below
will not be accepted or provided to NACIQI members if those comments
are submitted after the deadline provided in this Federal Register
notice, which is May 20, 2024. Written comments must be submitted to
the mailbox identified below. Do not submit written comments directly
to Department officials or to NACIQI members.
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 2025
NACIQI meeting. The agencies are listed by the type of application or
report each agency has submitted. Please note, each agency's current
scope of recognition is indicated below. If any agency requested to
expand its scope of recognition, identified are both the current scope
of recognition and the requested scope of recognition.
Compliance Reports
1. Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education. Scope of
Recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation of basic
certificate, basic graduate nurse-midwifery, direct entry midwifery,
and pre-certification nurse-midwifery education programs, including
those programs that offer distance education. Geographic area of
accrediting activities: The United States. The compliance report
includes findings of noncompliance with certain criteria in 34 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023,
letter from the Senior Department Official (SDO) following the February
28, 2023, NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI
meeting date 2/28/2023, at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</a>.
2. American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on
Accreditation in Physical Therapy. Scope of Recognition: The
accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidate for Accreditation'') in
the United States of physical therapist education programs leading to
the first professional degree at the master's or doctoral level and
physical therapist assistant education programs at the associate degree
level and for its accreditation of such programs offered via distance
education. Geographic area of accrediting activities: The United
States. The compliance report includes findings of noncompliance with
certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023,
letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023, NACIQI meeting.
The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/2023, at
[[Page 31172]]
<a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</a>.
3. Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Scope of
Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy
status'') of institutions of higher education including distance,
correspondence education programs and direct assessment programs
offered at those institutions. Recognition extends to the Executive
Committee to act on behalf of the Commission as necessary on cases of
initial, reaffirmed, and continued candidacy or initial, reaffirmed and
continued accreditation. Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The
United States. The compliance report includes findings of noncompliance
with certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31,
2023, letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023 NACIQI
meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/
2023, at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</a>.
4. New England Commission of Higher Education. Scope of
Recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation (``Candidacy
status'') of institutions of higher education including the
accreditation of programs offered via distance education and direct
assessment within those institutions. Jointly with the Commission, this
recognition extends to its Executive Committee and also to the Appeals
Body for decisions related to the appeal of denial or withdrawal of
candidacy; probation; and denial or withdrawal of accreditation.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States. The
compliance report includes findings of noncompliance with certain
criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023, letter from
the SDO following the February 28, 2023, NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter
is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/2023, at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</a>.
5. Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Scope of
Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidate for
Accreditation'') of institutions of higher education that offer the
baccalaureate degree or above, including distance education programs
offered at those institutions. Geographic area of accrediting
activities: The United States. The compliance report includes findings
of noncompliance with certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in
the May 31, 2023, letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023,
NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date
2/28/2023, at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</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 May 20, 2024, in the
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#095d61607b6d59687b7d704a6664646c677d7a496c6d276e667f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f4a09c9d8690a49586808db79b9999919a8087b49190da939b82">[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 PDF, Microsoft Word document
or in a medium compatible with Microsoft Word 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
SDO letter that requested the compliance report following the February
28, 2023, NACIQI meeting, or in the Secretary's appeal decision, if
any. The SDO letters for the specific agencies referenced in this
Federal Register notice are available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/
2023, at <a href="https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents">https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents</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. Written comments about the specific agencies
identified in this Federal Register notice that are submitted after the
deadline will not be considered by the Department or provided to NACIQI
for purposes of the current review. However, comments may be provided
orally at the summer 2025 NACIQI meeting, which has not yet been
scheduled, but which will be announced in a future Federal Register
notice.
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. 1099b; 20 U.S.C. 1011c.
Nasser Paydar,
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-08770 Filed 4-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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