Department of Education restores accreditor’s federal recognition pending review of its 2016 petition

Federal Issues Student Lending Department of Education State Attorney General

On April 3, Department of Education (Department) Secretary, Betsey DeVos restored the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools’ (ACICS) status as a federally recognized accrediting agency, effective as of December 12, 2016. The order follows the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s March 23, 2018 remand of the former Secretary’s December 2016 decision withdrawing recognition. The order states that while federal recognition is restored, the Department will review ACICS’ January 2016 petition to determine whether continued recognition is warranted. As previously covered by InfoBytes, a coalition of state Attorneys General urged the Department to reject ACICS’ application to regain recognition, citing to what the Attorneys General called “ACICS’ systemic accreditation failures.”