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Accreditation FAQ & Resources

What is accreditation?

At its most basic, accreditation is a process whereby academic institutions submit themselves to a peer review process that assesses the quality of the education and makes recommendations for improvement. Accrediting agencies are traditionally non-partisan and non-governmental organizations that assess academic institutions within a specific region. Accredited colleges and universities are eligible to receive federally-funded student aid. The “Academic Freedom on the Line” podcast and newsletter have provided overviews of what is at stake in accreditation.

Why is the Trump administration interested in accreditation?

The Trump administration and MAGA politicians have been waging a war on accreditation for years now. During the first Trump administration, Secretary DeVos changed federal guidance in order to weaken accreditation, which had successfully reined in predatory for-profit universities under the Obama administration. Florida Governor DeSantis took aim at Florida’s regional accreditor in 2022 when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) raised concern that DeSantis was interfering in university governance by appointing a political ally to the presidency of Florida State University (FSU). In retaliation, DeSantis mandated that state schools use a different accrediting agency each cycle (SB 7044). 

Project 2025 (see page 351) continued this attack on accreditation, accusing accrediting agencies of being beholden to “woke ‘diversicrats’” and called on the President to “issue an executive order expanding the list of allowable accreditors.” In April 2025, Trump issued an executive order doing exactly that. 

These efforts to undermine the existing accreditation process are based on creating “market competition,” allowing schools to “shop around” for an accreditor.

What is the CPHE?

If recognized by the Department of Education, the Commission for Public Higher Education (CPHE) would be an accrediting agency run by state governments. Currently, six states (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as the University of South Carolina system) have committed to, or are considering joining, the CPHE.  

What concerns has the AAUP raised about the CPHE?

The AAUP’s President Todd Wolfson submitted a letter in September of 2025 to CPHE raising a number of concerns, including a lack of any “mention of tenure as the best means to protect” academic freedom; objections to the notion that states will be holding state institutions accountable, calling this “at odds with any notion of an autonomous self-regulating community of scholars”; concerns that the call of “viewpoint diversity” could be interpreted as “a political quota system”; and a request for clarity that institutional autonomy will be protected and transparency about “the experts who are being assembled to make these decisions.” 

In February 2026, the University of South Carolina AAUP submitted these comments on the Draft Evidentiary Standards, and the Appalachian State University AAUO chapter shared this related resolution. 

In March 2026, this statement was released by Todd Wolfson, as AAUP President and AFT Vice-President. calling the CPHE process illegitimate: "Rather than protecting educational quality, the CPHE appears designed to give partisan political actors a powerful new tool to pressure universities to conform to a narrow ideological agenda."

What are the next steps for the CPHE?

The CPHE accepted public comments about its evidentiary standards through March 4; AAUP members submitted more than one hundred individual comments raising concerns. The CPHE's website includes a portal for ongoing public comment submissions.

The CPHE will now go through the accreditation process at ten schools, including: Columbus State University (Georgia), Georgia Southern University, Chipola College (Florida), Florida Atlantic University Florida Polytechnic University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Appalachian State University (North Carolina), North Carolina Central University, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and Texas A&M-Texarkana.

This exercise will be used to petition the Department of Education to be recognized as an accrediting agency.

Where can I learn more about accreditation and the faculty's role in it?

See the AAUP report "The Role of the Faculty in the Accrediting of Colleges and Universities," and the AAUP "Statement on Political Interference in Higher Education," especially the section "Weakening Faculty Power and the Accreditation System."

Where can I learn more about the CPHE?

There are a number of places to get information about the risks posed by the CPHE, including an informative webinar hosted by Higher Education Labor United (HELU), AAUP, and United Faculty of Florida (UFF) in October 2025.

The CPHE has also been covered in several outlets, including: