[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70594-70595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24595]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Accrediting Agency Currently Undergoing Review During the Period 
of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education

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

ACTION: Call for written third-party comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides information to members of the public on 
submitting written comments for accrediting agencies currently 
undergoing review during the period of recognition by the U.S. 
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 during 
their period of recognition is pursuant to 34 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Sec.  602.33(c)(4)(iii)(B).
    This accrediting agency will be added to the agenda for the Winter 
2021 National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity 
(NACIQI) meeting, notice of which was published May 28, 2020 (85 FRN 
32031). The meeting date and location have not been determined but will 
be announced in a later Federal Register notice.

Agencies Under Review and Evaluation

    The Department requests written comments from the public on the 
following accrediting agency, which is currently undergoing review and 
evaluation during its period of recognition by the Department's Office 
of Postsecondary Education Accreditation Group, in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in 34 CFR 602.33.

Inquiries Under 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Sec.  602.33:

Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)
    a. 34 CFR 602.33 review in response to ACICS monitoring report. 
Pursuant to the November 21, 2018 Decision of the Secretary, Docket No. 
16-44-0 (available at https://opeweb.ed.gov/e-Recognition/PublicDocuments under NACIQI meeting date: 06/23/2016 for ACICS), ACICS 
submitted a monitoring report on issues identified in the Decision 
related to the agency's compliance with the Criteria in 34 CFR 
602.15(a)(1), 602.16(a)(1)(i), 602.16(a)(1)(vii), and 602.19(b). In its 
review of the monitoring report, the Department staff noted that one or 
more deficiencies may exist in the agency's compliance with the 
Secretary's Criteria for Recognition or the agency's effective 
application of those Criteria, and therefore processed the monitoring 
report in accordance with the review procedures set forth in 34 CFR 
602.33. The review has identified noncompliance with the Criteria in 34 
CFR 602.15(a)(1) and 602.19(b).
    b. 34 CFR 602.33 review initiated by inquiry letter dated June 19, 
2019 (letter available at https://www.ed.gov/accreditation/acics). The 
initiation of

[[Page 70595]]

the review was based on information from media coverage of ACICS's 
presentation to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation 
concerning its financial situation and its review of two institutions, 
Virginia International University and San Diego University for 
Integrative Studies. The review has identified noncompliance with the 
Criteria in 34 CFR 602.15(a)(1), 602.16(c), 602.17(c), and 602.17(e). 
It should be noted that the new accreditation regulations effective 
July 1, 2020 changed 602.16(c) to 602.16(d). There are no substantive 
changes to the regulations, just a change in numbering.
    c. 34 CFR 602.33 review initiated by inquiry letter dated February 
24, 2020 (letter available at https://www.ed.gov/accreditation/acics). 
The initiation of the review was based on information from media 
coverage alleging that ACICS accredited Reagan National University, an 
institution not actually in operation. The review has identified 
noncompliance with the Criteria in 34 CFR 602.15(a)(1), 602.15(a)(2), 
602.17(c), 602.18(c), and 602.19(b). It should be noted that the new 
regulations effective July 1, 2020 changed 602.18(c) to 602.18(b)(3). 
There are no substantive changes to the regulations, just a change in 
numbering.

Submission of Written Comments Regarding a Specific Accrediting Agency 
Under Review

    Written comments about the recognition of a specific accrediting 
agency must be received by November 20, 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 must relate to the Criteria 
cited in in the Secretary's appeal decision, or to the agency's 
compliance with the Criteria identified in the inquiry findings 
specifically listed above. The Criteria are available at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.
    Only written material 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.
    A later Federal Register notice will describe how to register to 
provide oral comments at the Winter 2021 meeting regarding the 
recognition of a specific accrediting agency or State approval agency.
    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 this 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. 2020-24595 Filed 11-4-20; 8:45 am]
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