Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act

The "Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act" introduces significant reforms to the accreditation process for higher education institutions. It broadens the types of entities that can serve as recognized accreditors, notably by allowing for **State-designated industry-specific quality assurance entities**. These new entities must be deemed reliable authorities for educational quality by a State and officially designated for accreditation purposes. The bill strengthens the independence requirements for accrediting agencies, especially those affiliated with trade associations, by mandating **distinct incorporation and administrative and financial separation**. This includes strict rules for board member independence, requiring public members, and establishing clear conflict of interest guidelines. The Secretary of Education is also tasked with convening experts to develop **common terminology** for accrediting decisions, such as monitoring and warning statuses, to ensure greater consistency across agencies. A central provision requires accrediting agencies to adopt new standards for evaluating **student achievement outcomes**. These standards must include a comparison of the **total price** charged for a program to the **value-added earnings** of its graduates, along with completion rates, retention rates, and loan repayment rates. Accreditors must also consider learning outcomes, such as competency attainment and licensing examination passage rates, and labor market outcomes like employability and earnings gains. The legislation provides specific protections for religious institutions, requiring accreditors to **respect their stated religious missions** and not use religious policies as a negative factor in accreditation decisions. It also establishes an administrative complaint process for institutions that believe an adverse action by an accreditor violates their religious mission, placing the burden of proof on the accreditor. Furthermore, accreditors must demonstrate the ability to review all instruction delivery models, including distance education, without preference, and ensure student identity verification for remote learning. Accrediting agencies are required to implement **risk-based review processes**, allowing for varied on-site inspection intervals based on institutional risk and reducing compliance burdens for high-performing institutions. They must also establish mechanisms to identify institutions or programs experiencing difficulties, focusing on student success outcomes, and require annual improvement plans. The bill increases transparency by mandating public availability of adverse actions, reasons for such actions, and lists of accredited institutions with their accreditation history. The bill streamlines the process for institutions to **change accrediting agencies** without Secretarial approval, provided they are not under a "covered action" like probation or a pending adverse action. It also allows institutions with dual accreditation to designate which agency's accreditation will be utilized for determining eligibility for federal programs. Finally, the bill amends the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) by disqualifying members with significant conflicts of interest and extending its authorization until September 30, 2028.