[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71251-71252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27095]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


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

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education, Accreditation Group, Office of 
Postsecondary 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 for purposes 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 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 winter 2023 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 winter 2023 
NACIQI meeting.
    The agencies are listed by the type of application each agency has 
submitted. Please note, each agency's current scope of recognition is 
indicated below. If any agency requests a change to its scope of 
recognition, identified are both the current scope of recognition and 
the requested scope of recognition.
    Applications for Renewal of Recognition:
    1. Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. Scope of 
recognition: Accreditation of nursing education programs and schools, 
both postsecondary and higher degree, which offer a certificate, 
diploma, or a recognized professional degree, including clinical 
doctorate, masters, baccalaureate, associate, diploma, and practical 
nursing programs in the United States and its territories, including 
those offered via distance education.
    2. Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education. Scope of 
recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation of basic 
certificate, basic graduate nurse-midwifery, direct entry midwifery, 
and pre-certification nurse-midwifery education programs, including 
those programs that offer distance education.
    3. American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on 
Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Scope of recognition: The 
accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidate for Accreditation'') in 
the United States of physical therapist education programs leading to 
the first professional degree at the master's or doctoral level and 
physical therapist assistant education programs at the associate degree 
level and for its accreditation of such programs offered via distance 
education.
    4. Higher Learning Commission. Scope of recognition: The 
accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidate for Accreditation'') of 
degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States, 
including the tribal institutions, and the accreditation of programs 
offered via distance education and correspondence education within 
these institutions. This recognition extends to the Institutional 
Actions Council jointly with the Board of Trustees of the Commission 
for decisions on cases for continued accreditation or reaffirmation, 
and continued candidacy, and to the Appeals Body jointly with the Board 
of Trustees of the Commission for decisions related to initial 
candidacy or accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation.
    5. Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Scope of 
recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy 
status'') of institutions of higher education in Delaware, the District 
of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, 
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and

[[Page 71252]]

any other geographic areas in which the Commission elects to conduct 
accrediting activities within the United States including distance and 
correspondence education programs offered at those institutions.
    6. New England Commission of Higher Education. Scope of 
recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy 
status'') of institutions of higher education in Connecticut, Maine, 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont that award 
bachelor's master's and/or doctoral degrees and associate degree-
granting institutions in those states that include degrees in liberal 
arts or general studies among their offerings, including the 
accreditation of programs offered via distance education within these 
institutions. Jointly with the Commission, this recognition extends to 
its Executive Committee and also to the Appeals Body for decisions 
related to the appeal of denial or withdrawal of candidacy; probation; 
and denial or withdrawal of accreditation.
    7. Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Senior College and 
University Commission. Scope of recognition: The accreditation and 
preaccreditation (``Candidate for Accreditation'') of institutions of 
higher education in the United States that offer the baccalaureate 
degree or above, including distance education programs offered at those 
institutions.
    Compliance Reports:
    1. New York State Board of Regents, State Education Department, 
Office of the Professions (Nursing Education). The compliance report 
relates to findings of noncompliance with the Department's criteria for 
recognition of state agencies for approval of nurse education, set 
forth in a Federal Register notice published on January 16, 1969. 34 FR 
587, 644-645 (January 16, 1969). The senior Department official's (SDO) 
decision letter, dated October 28, 2020, is available under NACIQI 
meeting date 07/29/2020 at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/PublicDocuments.
    2. Maryland Board of Nursing. The compliance report relates to 
findings of noncompliance with the Department's criteria for 
recognition of state agencies for approval of nurse education, set 
forth in a Federal Register notice published on January 16, 1969. 34 FR 
587, 644-645 (January 16, 1969). The Acting Secretary's Order, dated 
January 19, 2021, is available under NACIQI meeting date 02/27/2020 at 
https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/PublicDocuments.
    Submission of Written Comments Regarding a Specific Accrediting 
Agency Under Review: Written comments about the recognition of any of 
the accrediting agencies listed above must be received by January 20, 
2022, in the [email protected] mailbox. Please include in the 
subject line ``Written Comments: (agency name).'' The electronic mail 
(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 email or provided in the body of an email 
message.
    Comments about an agency that has submitted a compliance report 
scheduled for review by the Department must relate to the criteria for 
recognition cited in the senior Department official's letter that 
requested the report, or in the Secretary's appeal decision, if any. 
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 Recognition of 
Accrediting Agencies, which are available at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-VI/part-602?toc=1.
    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. 1099b

Annmarie Weisman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, Office 
of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2021-27095 Filed 12-14-21; 8:45 am]
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