Ten accrediting agencies are up for renewal of federal recognition, and the U.S. Department of Education is taking written comments on them until December 5, 2026. The list includes four institutional accreditors, the bodies that accredit whole colleges and universities, including institutions where engineering, computing and technology programs sit. This guide explains what the review is, who is on the list and how a comment is filed so that it counts.

What federal recognition is

The Secretary of Education recognizes accrediting agencies that the department judges to be reliable authorities on the quality of education they accredit. For an institutional accreditor, that recognition is what lets its accreditation serve as the gateway to federal student aid. Agencies are reviewed periodically by the department's Accreditation Group, and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, known as NACIQI, hears each review and makes a recommendation before the department decides.

The Higher Education Act requires the department to ask the public for written comments on each agency under review. The notice published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2026 is that request, and it covers agencies that will be heard at NACIQI's third meeting of 2027. The meeting date has not been set; the department says a later Federal Register notice will announce it along with how to register to speak.

The ten agencies on the list

All ten have applied for renewal of recognition:

  • Higher Learning Commission
  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education
  • New England Commission of Higher Education
  • WASC Senior College and University Commission, which has also asked to expand its scope to cover programs offered through direct assessment and to extend recognition to its Executive Committee
  • Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing
  • Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education
  • Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the American Physical Therapy Association
  • New York State Board of Regents, for public postsecondary vocational education in practical nursing
  • Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, for public postsecondary vocational education
  • Pennsylvania State Board of Career and Technical Education, for public postsecondary vocational education

The notice sets out each agency's current scope of recognition, including whether it covers preaccreditation (candidacy), distance education and direct assessment. A comment about scope should start from that text.

What a comment has to be about

The notice limits what the department will weigh. A comment on an agency seeking renewal or a wider scope must relate to the agency's compliance with the federal Criteria for the Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, found in 34 CFR part 602. That part sets out, among other things, what standards an agency must have, how it monitors institutions and programs, how it enforces its standards and how it handles complaints. A comment that an agency was too strict or too lenient with one school carries more weight when it is tied to a specific requirement in part 602 and backed by documents.

Readers following the department's October 30 final rule on accreditor recognition should note that it revises the same body of regulations. The notice points commenters to the current text on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, so check the version in effect when you write.

How to file

  • Deadline: the notice says comments must arrive within 30 days of its November 5 publication, which falls on December 5, 2026.
  • Where: by email to the Accreditation Group mailbox given in the notice. Mail and fax are not listed.
  • Subject line: the notice asks for a subject line that identifies the comment as written comments and names the agency.
  • Who you are: include the name, title, organization or affiliation, mailing address, email address and phone number of each person commenting.
  • Format: a PDF or Word document attached to the email, or the comment in the body of the message.

Only written material sent to that mailbox by the deadline becomes part of the official record that the department and NACIQI consider. Oral comments will be possible at the 2027 meeting itself once it is scheduled. Questions go to Elizabeth Daggett, director of the Accreditation Group in the Office of Postsecondary Education.

Why program faculty may want to read the list

Programmatic accreditors such as ABET review engineering and computing programs, but the institution those programs belong to is accredited by an institutional body, and four of the largest are on this list. Faculty and administrators who have been through a reaffirmation with one of them have first-hand knowledge of how its standards and procedures work in practice, which is the kind of evidence the recognition review asks for. The same goes for nursing and physical therapy faculty with the three programmatic agencies listed.

The next step is to read the notice itself, find the agency you know, compare its listed scope with what you have seen, and send a comment tied to part 602 before December 5.

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