[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 87 (Thursday, May 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26743-26744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09582]


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

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.

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

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 2C158, 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 496(n)(1)(A) of the 
Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and pertains to the 
summer 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 summer 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. Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools, 
Accreditation Commission. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation and 
pre-accreditation (``Correspondent'' and ``Candidate'') of advanced 
rabbinical and Talmudic schools to include Associate, Baccalaureate, 
Masters, Doctorate, and First Rabbinic and First Talmudic degrees 
programs.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    2. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for 
Education in Nutrition and Dietetics. Scope of Recognition: The 
accreditation and pre-accreditation, of Didactic and Coordinated 
Programs in Dietetics at both the undergraduate and graduate level, 
postbaccalaureate Dietetic Internships, and Dietetic Technician 
Programs at the associate degree level and for its accreditation of 
such programs offered via distance education.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    3. American Optometric Association, Accreditation Council on 
Optometric Education. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of 
professional optometric degree programs and optometric residency 
programs, and for the pre-accreditation category of Preliminary 
Approval for professional optometric degree programs.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    4. Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation of nursing education programs at the 
baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, and certificate levels, including 
programs offering distance education.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    5. Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational 
Programs. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of institutions and 
programs of nurse anesthesia at the post master's certificate, 
master's, or doctoral degree levels, including programs offering 
distance education.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    Requested Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of institutions 
and programs of nurse anesthesia at the post master's certificate, 
post-doctoral certificate, master's, or doctoral degree levels, 
including programs offering distance education.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    6. Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Scope of Recognition: 
The accreditation of medical education programs leading to the M.D. 
degree.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    7. National Association of Schools of Art and Design, Commission on 
Accreditation. Scope of Recognition: The accreditation of freestanding 
institutions and units offering art/design and art/design-related 
programs (both degree- and non-degree-granting), including those 
offered via distance education.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.
    8. Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation (``Candidacy 
status'') of postsecondary degree-granting educational institutions and 
the accreditation of programs offered via distance education within 
these institutions.
    Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United 
States.

Compliance Report

    1. Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation of institutions and programs that award 
postsecondary certificates, postsecondary diplomas, academic Associate 
degrees and occupational Associate degrees, in the practice of massage 
therapy, bodywork, and aesthetics/esthetics and skin care. Geographic 
Area of Accrediting Activities: Throughout the United States.
    The compliance report addresses findings of noncompliance with 34 
CFR 602 as referenced in the senior Department official's (SDO) 
decision letter dated June 02, 2021, available under NACIQI meeting 
date February 25, 2021, available at: https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/PublicDocuments.

[[Page 26744]]

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 June 06, 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 PDF, Microsoft Word document 
or in a medium compatible with Microsoft Word 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 
SDO'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 the 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. 1011c; 20 U.S.C. 1099b.

Annmarie Weisman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation, Office 
of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2022-09582 Filed 5-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P