On August 20, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register regarding accreditation. The NPRM follows ED’s establishment of The Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Negotiated Rulemaking Committee earlier this year, which came to consensus on proposed regulatory changes. The proposed language in the NPRM reflects this agreement with several non-substantive and non-technical changes. This memo provides an overview of the NPRM along with a summary of ED’s stated reasons for specific proposed regulatory changes. Public comments to the NPRM are due no later than September 21, 2026 and may be submitted here.
