[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 156 (Wednesday, August 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48679-48680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17634]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purposes 
of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education

AGENCY: Accreditation Group, Office of Postsecondary Education, 
Department of Education.

ACTION: Call for written third-party comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice provides information to members of the public on 
submitting written comments for accrediting agencies currently 
undergoing review for purposes of recognition by the Secretary of 
Education.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Herman Bounds, Director, Accreditation 
Group, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 270-01, Washington, DC 20202, telephone: 
(202) 453-7615, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This request for written third-party 
comments concerning the performance of accrediting agencies under 
review by the Secretary of Education is required by Sec.  496(n)(1)(A) 
of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and pertains to 
the summer 2021 meeting of the National Advisory Committee on 
Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). The meeting date and 
location have not been determined, but will be announced in a later 
Federal Register notice. In addition, a later Federal Register notice 
will describe how to register to provide oral comments at the meeting.
    Agencies Under Review and Evaluation: The Department requests 
written comments from the public on the following accrediting agencies, 
which are currently undergoing review and evaluation by the 
Accreditation Group, and which will be reviewed at the Summer 2021 
NACIQI meeting.
    The agencies are listed by the type of application each has 
submitted. We have also indicated each agency's current scope of 
recognition. If any agency requests a change to its scope of 
recognition, we have identified both the current scope of recognition 
and the requested scope of recognition.

Applications for Renewal of Recognition

    1. Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. 
Scope of recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation 
(``Candidacy'') throughout the United States of professional non-degree 
and graduate degree programs, including professional doctoral programs, 
in the field of acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine, as well as 
freestanding institutions and colleges of acupuncture and/or Oriental 
medicine that offer such programs.
    2. Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. Scope of 
recognition: The accreditation of private, postsecondary institutions 
in the United States offering predominantly* allied health education 
programs leading to a certificate, diploma, and degrees at the level of 
the Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Occupational Science, 
Academic Associate, Baccalaureate and Master's; and the programmatic 
accreditation of medical assisting, medical laboratory technology, and 
surgical technology programs, through the Associate degree, including 
those offered via distance education. The scope extends to the 
Substantive Change Committee, jointly with the Commission, for 
decisions on substantive change.
    3. Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological 
Schools. Scope of recognition: The accreditation of theological schools 
and seminaries, as well as schools or programs that are parts of 
colleges or universities, in the United States, offering post 
baccalaureate degrees in professional and academic theological 
education, including delivery via distance education.
    4. Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. Scope of 
recognition: The accreditation of postsecondary, non-degree-granting 
institutions and degree-granting institutions in the United States, 
including those granting associate, baccalaureate and master's degrees, 
that are predominantly organized to educate students for occupational, 
trade and technical careers, and including institutions that offer 
programs via distance education.
    5. Council on Occupational Education. Scope of recognition: The 
accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy Status'') throughout 
the United States of postsecondary occupational education institutions

[[Page 48680]]

offering non-degree and applied associate degree programs in specific 
career and technical education fields, including institutions that 
offer programs via distance education.
    6. American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal 
Education and Admissions to the Bar. Scope of recognition: The 
accreditation throughout the United States of programs in legal 
education that lead to the first professional degree in law, including 
those offered via distance education, as well as freestanding law 
schools offering such programs. This recognition also extends to the 
Accreditation Committee of the Section of Legal Education 
(Accreditation Committee) for decisions involving continued 
accreditation (referred to by the agency as ``approval'') of law 
schools.
    7. American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation. 
Scope of recognition: The accreditation in the United States of 
doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, school and combined 
professional-scientific psychology; doctoral internship programs in 
health service psychology; and postdoctoral residency programs in 
health service psychology; and the preaccreditation in the United 
States of doctoral internship programs in health service psychology; 
and postdoctoral residency programs in health service psychology.
    8. American Osteopathic Association, Commission on Osteopathic 
College Accreditation. Scope of recognition: The accreditation and 
preaccreditation (``Provisional Accreditation'') throughout the United 
States of freestanding, public and private non-profit institutions of 
osteopathic medicine and programs leading to the degree of Doctor of 
Osteopathy or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
    9. Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, 
Accreditation Commission. Scope of recognition: The accreditation and 
preaccreditation (``Candidate'' status) of Christian postsecondary 
institutions in the United States that offer certificates, diplomas, 
and associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees, including 
institutions that offer distance education.
    10. Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. Scope 
of recognition: The accreditation of private postsecondary institutions 
offering certificates or diplomas, and postsecondary institutions 
offering associate, bachelor's, or master's degrees in programs 
designed to educate students for professional, technical, or 
occupational careers, including those that offer those programs via 
distance education.
    Submission of Written Comments Regarding a Specific Accrediting 
Agency Under Review:
    Written comments about the recognition of any of the accrediting 
listed above must be received by September 12, 2020 in the 
[email protected] mailbox and include the subject line 
``Written Comments: (agency name).'' The email must include the 
name(s), title, organization/affiliation, mailing address, email 
address, and telephone number of the person(s) making the comment. 
Comments should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document or in a 
medium compatible with Microsoft Word (not a PDF file) that is attached 
to an electronic mail message (email) or provided in the body of an 
email message. Comments about an agency that has submitted a petition 
for initial recognition, renewal of recognition, or an expansion of 
scope must relate to the agency's compliance with the Criteria for the 
Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, which are available at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.
    Only written materials submitted by the deadline to the email 
address listed in this notice, and in accordance with these 
instructions, become part of the official record concerning agencies 
scheduled for review and are considered by the Department and NACIQI in 
their deliberations.
    Electronic Access to this Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free 
internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well 
as all other documents of the Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF, 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site. You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1011c.

Robert L. King,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2020-17634 Filed 8-11-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P