Neg Reg Committee Zips Through Accreditation, TEACH Grant, State Authorization Issues in Penultimate Meeting – NASFAA
The negotiated rulemaking committee focused on accreditation and innovation reconvened Tuesday and worked toward discussing the remaining issues in proposed regulatory language before beginning voting on Wednesday.
After a full day of discussion on Monday, the committee focused on remaining accreditation issues, faith-based entities, the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program, and state authorization reciprocity agreements (SARA). In all, the group had about 15 different items to get through on Tuesday.
“We’re at that point where we’re seeing the urgency of getting to the end and we want to make sure we cover the topics,” said federal negotiator Annmarie Weisman. “So it’s getting to the point where it’s not so much discussing if you agree with something, but if you have real language suggestions that you feel like … to make this work, [you] need it to say this.”
The committee began with accreditation issues, such as the procedure for when an institution wants to change accrediting agencies. Michale McComis, representing national accrediting agencies, suggested changes to prevent what he called “accreditation shopping.”