Notice2025-05853
Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purpose of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
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Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 4, 2025
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 90 Issue 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14815-14816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05853]
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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: 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 the purpose of recognition by the U.S. Secretary
of Education.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Daggett, 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#7510191c0f141710011d5b111412121001013510115b121a03"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d2b7bebba8b3b0b7a6bafcb6b3b5b5b7a6a692b7b6fcb5bda4">[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 of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C.
Sec. Sec. 1001, et seq. (HEA), and pertains to the summer 2026 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. Written comments submitted in
response to this Federal Register notice must be submitted to the
mailbox identified below by May 8, 2025. Do not submit written comments
in response to this Federal Register notice 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 2026
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 requested to expand its scope of
recognition, both the current scope of recognition and the requested
scope of recognition are identified below.
Applications for Renewal of Recognition
1. American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal
Education and Admissions to the Bar. Scope of Recognition: The
accreditation of programs in legal education that lead to the first
professional degree in law, including those offered via distance
education, as well as freestanding law schools offering such programs.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
2. Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. Scope of
Recognition: The accreditation of private, postsecondary institutions
offering predominantly allied health education programs leading to a
certificate, diploma, and degree at the level of the Associate of
Applied Science, Associate of Occupational Science, Academic Associate,
Baccalaureate and Master's; including those offered via distance
education and the programmatic accreditation of medical assisting,
medical laboratory technology, and surgical technology programs,
through the Associate degree, including those offered via distance
education. The scope extends to the Substantive Change Committee,
jointly with the Commission for decisions on substantive change.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
3. Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine.
Scope of Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation
(``Candidacy'') of professional non-degree and graduate degree
programs, including professional doctoral programs, in the field of
acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine, as well as freestanding
institutions and colleges of acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine that
offer such programs, including programs offered via distance education.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
4. American Osteopathic Association, Commission on Osteopathic
College Accreditation. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation and
preaccreditation (``Provisional Accreditation'') of freestanding
institutions of osteopathic medicine and of osteopathic medical
programs leading to the degree of Doctor of Osteopathy or Doctor of
Osteopathic Medicine. Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The
United States.
5. American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation.
Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of doctoral programs in
clinical, counseling, school and combined professional-scientific
psychology; doctoral internship programs in health service psychology;
and postdoctoral residency programs in health service psychology; and
the preaccreditation of doctoral internship programs in health service
psychology; and postdoctoral residency programs in health service
psychology. Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United
States. Requested Scope of Recognition: The preaccreditation and
accreditation of master's programs and doctoral programs in clinical,
counseling, school psychology, (and combinations of two or more of
these practice areas); doctoral internship programs in health service
psychology; and postdoctoral residency programs in health service
psychology, including programs that use distance education and
traditional educational methods. Geographic Area of Accrediting
Activities: The United States.
6. Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological
Schools. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of theological schools
and seminaries, as well as schools or programs that are parts of
colleges or universities, offering post baccalaureate degrees in
professional and academic theological education, including delivery via
distance education. Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The
United States. Requested Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of
theological schools and seminaries, as well as schools or programs that
are parts of colleges or universities, offering post baccalaureate
degrees in professional and academic theological education, including
delivery via distance education and direct assessment. Geographic Area
of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
7. Council on Occupational Education. Scope of Recognition: The
accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy Status'') of
postsecondary occupational education institutions offering non-degree
and applied associate degree programs in specific career and technical
education fields, including institutions that offer programs via
distance education.
[[Page 14816]]
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
8. National Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Training
Consortium. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of nurse
practitioner (NP) postgraduate residency and fellowship training
programs. This recognition also extends to the agency's Appeals Panel.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
9. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on
Colleges. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation
(``Candidate for Accreditation'') of degree-granting institutions of
higher education including the accreditation of educational programs
offered via distance education, correspondence courses, and direct
assessment within these institutions. The accreditation status of these
institutions and their recognition extends to the SACSCOC Board of
Trustees, Executive Council, and the Appeals Committee of the
Collegiate College Delegate Assembly on cases of initial candidacy or
initial accreditation and for continued accreditation or candidacy.
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States.
10. Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools,
Accreditation Commission. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation and
preaccreditation (``Candidate'' status) of Christian postsecondary
institutions in the United States that offer certificates, diplomas,
and associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees, including
institutions that offer distance education. Geographic Area of
Accrediting Activities: The United States.
Compliance Report
1. Kansas State Board of Nursing. Scope of Recognition: State
agency for the approval of nurse education. The compliance report
includes findings of noncompliance with the criterion found at 34 FR
587644 (Jan. 16, 1969) identified in the May 28, 2024, letter from the
senior Department official following the February 27, 2024, NACIQI
meeting, available 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
or State Agency Under Review
Written comments in response to this Federal Register notice about
the recognition of any of the accrediting agencies or State agency
listed above must be received by May 8, 2025, in the
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9bcff3f2e9ffcbfae9efe2d8f4f6f6fef5efe8dbfeffb5fcf4ed"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d2915140f192d1c0f09043e1210101813090e3d1819531a120b">[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 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 or the Criteria for the recognition of State
Agencies, which are available at: <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html">https://www2.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. Comments about the agencies listed in this Federal
Register notice may also be provided orally at the summer 2026 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.
James Bergeron,
Acting Under Secretary (Delegated the authority to perform the
functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary
Education).
[FR Doc. 2025-05853 Filed 4-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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