[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3869 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3869

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of 
     Education to establish a process for accrediting agencies or 
  associations to seek a waiver of certain accreditation requirements.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2017

  Mr. Byrne introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

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                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of 
     Education to establish a process for accrediting agencies or 
  associations to seek a waiver of certain accreditation requirements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Innovation in Accreditation Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVERS OF CERTAIN ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) Waiver.--The Secretary shall establish a process through 
which an accrediting agency or association may seek to have a 
requirement of this subpart waived, if such agency or association--
            ``(1) demonstrates that such waiver is necessary to enable 
        an institution of higher education or program accredited by the 
        agency or association to implement innovative practices 
        intended to--
                    ``(A) reduce administrative burdens to the 
                institution or program without creating costs for the 
                taxpayer; or
                    ``(B) improve the delivery of services to students, 
                improve instruction or learning outcomes, or otherwise 
                benefit students; and
            ``(2) describes the terms and conditions that will be 
        placed upon the institution or program to ensure academic 
        integrity and quality.''.
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