Last week, the Department of Education finalized new regulations governing federally recognized accrediting organizations. These private agencies serve as quality-assurance gatekeepers for more than $100 billion in annual federal student aid, making their standards deeply influential over institutional policy. The department’s new regulations could therefore substantially alter institutional policies, including free expression policies.
Historically, federal regulations have left accreditors with substantial freedom to set their own standards and have had little to say regarding free speech or academic freedom (though most accreditors have voluntarily incorporated these principles into their standards). But more recently, accreditors have come under scrutiny for failing to exercise proper oversight of their accredited colleges, including claims that they fail to enforce their standards for free speech and academic freedom. FIRE’s own experience lends credence to these claims. On several occasions, we have contacted accreditors to report an institution’s noncompliance with the accreditor’s academic freedom or free expression standards. Unfortunately, our complaints have usually been rejected or ignored, with little to no explanation.
The regulations change the equation by establishing more detailed expectations concerning faculty policies, academic freedom, free expression, and intellectual diversity—in some ways for better and in some ways for worse. FIRE submitted a formal comment to the department in September, offering support for provisions that bolstered campus expressive rights and suggestions to address vague or overbroad language. Here’s what advocates for free expression need to know about the substance of the final rule. (The regulations also address many issues unrelated to FIRE’s mission, which are not addressed here or in our comment.)
