C-RAC urges Senate to consider amendments that further expand accreditors’ access to crucial student outcomes data necessary to hold institutions accountable WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC), which represents six of the nation’s largest federally-recognized institutional accrediting commissions, today endorsed passage of the College Transparency Act (S. 2511) for advancing more timely and accurate reporting on critical student outco

First-of-its-kind Summit convened leaders in postsecondary education, business, and philanthropy to discuss core challenges facing the nation’s higher education system WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC), a collaborative of the nation’s six largest federally recognized institutional accreditors, recently convened a National Data Summit to explore opportunities to improve existing data frameworks to better promote transparency and outco

DECATUR, Ga. – Students transferring to other colleges often lose a large portion of the credits they have already earned, which increases the time and cost needed to finish a degree. Today, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) announced a new initiative aimed at addressing this issue. The SACSCOC Transfer Credit Consortium is a voluntary, faculty-led partnership that unites colleges and universities to create common transfer pathw

The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), an institutional accreditor serving colleges and universities in the United States and internationally, today announced the release of the Workforce Development & Non-Credit Playbook: Strategies for High-Quality Programming. Developed for both higher education institutions and third-party providers with support from the Lumina Foundation, the Playbook represents the culmination of several years of research and institutio

The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) reiterates it serves as a voluntary organization with a long history of being a leading voice for accreditation at the national level. For over the last half a decade, each C-RAC member has served as an institutional accreditor, and since July 1, 2020, C-RAC members have taken advantage of opportunities to expand beyond traditional regional boundaries serving students and institutions across the country.

DECATUR, Ga. - The Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has approved a new name and brand identity for the organization. Effective September 1, 2026, the organization will be known as The Commission on Colleges and Universities. The new identity highlights the organization's growth as a national accreditor serving institutions in the United States and abroad, while reaffirming its commitment to educational qual

Washington, DC – The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) today announced that Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) President, Dr. Mac Powell, will become chair of the organization effective July 1, 2026. Dr. Lawrence Schall, President of New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), will serve as vice chair. Dr. Powell, who is completing a two-year term as vice chair and will serve a two-year term as chair, succeeds Middle S

In January, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced its intent to establish the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiating rulemaking committee. The committee was tasked with developing proposed regulations on a variety of accreditor-related topics, such as simplifying ED’s regulations for recognition and review of accrediting agencies and revising ED’s criteria and regulations for accrediting agencies to emphasize student achievement and outcome

Washington, DC — The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education on proposed Workforce Pell regulations in response to its March 9, 2026, notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) following the Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) negotiated rulemaking committee.

C-RAC raises questions about not having a voting seat where resulting rules could impact millions of students at 3,000 colleges and universities WASHINGTON, DC — The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) today issued a formal statement regarding its nominee for primary negotiator representing institutional accreditors not being selected as a voting member of the upcoming Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee. Despit

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), and the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) are collaborating with the National Accreditation Commission (NAC) to deploy NAC’s AIHub platform to align education with labor market demand.   Together, MSCHE, NWCCU, and WSCUC collectively serve more than 900 institutions and 6.3 million students across 20 states and territories. Through this

Washington, DC — The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education in response to its proposed interpretive rule addressing the use of the terms “national” and “regional” by federally recognized accrediting agencies. C-RAC expressed support for the Department’s efforts to ensure that outdated references to “regional accreditation” are removed from federal, state and institutional communications and policies. C-RAC

Washington, DC – Earlier this month, the Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) nominated Dr. Heather F. Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and Chair of C-RAC, to serve on the U.S. Department of Education’s Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee representing institutional accreditors recognized by the Secretary of Education. Today, C-RAC is pleased to announce their nomi

The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) today announced that its public-facing Key Indicators Dashboard (KID) now organizes program-level return on investment data by field of study, allowing institutions, students, policymakers, and other stakeholders to compare outcomes for specific disciplines across institutions and against national benchmarks. “As demand grows for clearer, program-level insight into postsecondary outcomes, organizing data by field of s

DECATUR, GA – The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has been awarded a $239,120 grant from the Lumina Foundation to support a multi-year initiative focused on strengthening the alignment between higher education programs and regional workforce needs across the accreditor’s membership. The grant will support the development of a data-driven framework to help SACSCOC’s more than 780 member institutions better assess workforce prioriti

Washington, DC – January 27, 2026 – Today, the Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) nominated Dr. Heather F. Perfetti, President of Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Chair of C-RAC, to represent institutional accreditors on the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Committee for the upcoming negotiated rulemaking.

Washington, DC – The Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education providing comments in response to the December 11, 2025, request for information on updates to the Accreditation Handbook.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) today announced that it has formally changed its name to the Council of Recognized Accrediting Commissions, effective immediately. The name change reflects significant shifts in federal regulation and practice that have reshaped the accreditation landscape over the past several years. In 2020, federal regulations eliminated regional boundaries for accrediting commissions, recognizing that institutiona

Sacramento, CA – The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) released a new white paper, Leveraging Program-Level Data to Strengthen Student Outcomes: A Framework for ACCJC Institutions , offering the Commission’s perspective on the growing importance of program-level return on investment (ROI) data in shaping the future of higher education. Building on ACCJC’s 2025 integration of an institutional ROI metric into its Student Achievement Dashboards , t

The Learning Evaluation and Recognition for the Next Generation (LEARN) Commission released its final report,  Recommendations to Transform Policy and Practice to Meet Changing Needs , outlining national guidelines to better recognize undergraduate learning in all its forms and apply that learning toward credentials. The recommendations aim to advance learning mobility, improve transfer pathways, and modernize credit evaluation policies and practices across higher education.