PRESS RELEASE: DFI Submits Public Comment Supporting the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Accreditation Rules, Urges Several Changes to Ensure Due Process and Reduce Cost

WASHINGTON—Today, the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) submitted a public comment on the U.S. Department of Education’s Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) proposed rule aimed at revolutionizing higher education accreditation.

DFI’s public comment praises the Department’s work to return accreditation to its core purpose of ensuring academic quality and serving as a reliable gatekeeper of federal student aid. The proposed reforms would reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, ease the entry of new accrediting agencies into the sector, allow institutions in good standing to change accreditors, enhance civil rights, intellectual diversity, and academic freedom on campus, and help students receive credit for comparable coursework completed at another institution.

“For too long, accreditation has served the interests of a longstanding clique of agencies that have leveraged their Title IV gatekeeping authority to push woke criteria at the expense of academic quality,” said DFI President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel. “And, rather than respond to rapid changes in technology, educational delivery, and the needs of students aiming to enter the workforce, these agencies have chosen to benefit their related occupations and affiliate organizations at the expense of students, schools, and programs. The Department’s AIM regulations aggressively address these problems.”

DFI supports the accreditation reforms in the AIM rule that:

• Improve academic quality in postsecondary education;
• Cut administrative costs for accreditors and schools;
• Ease the transfer credits between institutions;
• Require accreditors to evaluate whether schools protect academic freedom and intellectual diversity on campus; and
• Encourage the creation of new and innovative accrediting agencies.

DFI’s public comment does address concerns that it has with the proposed regulations. DFI urges the Department to revise provisions of the proposed rule that undermine the Higher Education Act’s requirement for binding arbitration between accreditors and schools arising from certain agency decisions. DFI argues that the proposed approach would turn arbitration into another costly procedural step before litigation instead of an efficient and final alternative to it.

DFI is also concerned that the proposed removal of requirements regarding institutional appeals of adverse actions would unnecessarily weaken due process standards that contribute to legitimacy and fairness in the accreditation process.

Finally, in the interest of fairness and predictability, DFI supports inclusion in the final regulations of clear transition rules governing their application to agencies that are currently preparing, submitting, or awaiting consideration of applications for recognition.

Read DFI’s full public comment here.