[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31171-31172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08770]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purpose 
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 the purpose 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, fifth floor, 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 section 
496(n)(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, and 
pertains to the summer 2025 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. 
Note: Written comments about the specific agencies identified below 
will not be accepted or provided to NACIQI members if those comments 
are submitted after the deadline provided in this Federal Register 
notice, which is May 20, 2024. Written comments must be submitted to 
the mailbox identified below. Do not submit written comments directly 
to Department officials or to NACIQI members.
    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 2025 
NACIQI meeting. The agencies are listed by the type of application or 
report each agency has submitted. Please note, each agency's current 
scope of recognition is indicated below. If any agency requested to 
expand its scope of recognition, identified are both the current scope 
of recognition and the requested scope of recognition.

Compliance Reports

    1. Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation of basic 
certificate, basic graduate nurse-midwifery, direct entry midwifery, 
and pre-certification nurse-midwifery education programs, including 
those programs that offer distance education. Geographic area of 
accrediting activities: The United States. The compliance report 
includes findings of noncompliance with certain criteria in 34 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023, 
letter from the Senior Department Official (SDO) following the February 
28, 2023, NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI 
meeting date 2/28/2023, at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.
    2. American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on 
Accreditation in Physical Therapy. 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. Geographic area of accrediting activities: The United 
States. The compliance report includes findings of noncompliance with 
certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023, 
letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023, NACIQI meeting. 
The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/2023, at

[[Page 31172]]

https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.
    3. Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidacy 
status'') of institutions of higher education including distance, 
correspondence education programs and direct assessment programs 
offered at those institutions. Recognition extends to the Executive 
Committee to act on behalf of the Commission as necessary on cases of 
initial, reaffirmed, and continued candidacy or initial, reaffirmed and 
continued accreditation. Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The 
United States. The compliance report includes findings of noncompliance 
with certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31, 
2023, letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023 NACIQI 
meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/
2023, at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.
    4. New England Commission of Higher Education. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation and pre-accreditation (``Candidacy 
status'') of institutions of higher education including the 
accreditation of programs offered via distance education and direct 
assessment within those 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. 
Geographic Area of Accrediting Activities: The United States. The 
compliance report includes findings of noncompliance with certain 
criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in the May 31, 2023, letter from 
the SDO following the February 28, 2023, NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter 
is available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/2023, at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.
    5. Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Scope of 
Recognition: The accreditation and preaccreditation (``Candidate for 
Accreditation'') of institutions of higher education that offer the 
baccalaureate degree or above, including distance education programs 
offered at those institutions. Geographic area of accrediting 
activities: The United States. The compliance report includes findings 
of noncompliance with certain criteria in 34 CFR part 602 identified in 
the May 31, 2023, letter from the SDO following the February 28, 2023, 
NACIQI meeting. The SDO letter is available under NACIQI meeting date 
2/28/2023, at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.

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 May 20, 2024, 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 letter that requested the compliance report following the February 
28, 2023, NACIQI meeting, or in the Secretary's appeal decision, if 
any. The SDO letters for the specific agencies referenced in this 
Federal Register notice are available under NACIQI meeting date 2/28/
2023, at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/public-documents.
    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. Written comments about the specific agencies 
identified in this Federal Register notice that are submitted after the 
deadline will not be considered by the Department or provided to NACIQI 
for purposes of the current review. However, comments may be provided 
orally at the summer 2025 NACIQI meeting, which has not yet been 
scheduled, but which will be announced in a future Federal Register 
notice.
    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; 20 U.S.C. 1011c.

Nasser Paydar,
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-08770 Filed 4-23-24; 8:45 am]
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