Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purposes of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education
| Published date | 15 December 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 71251 |
| Record Number | 2021-27095 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Education Department |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 238 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)
[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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