Ed Department's draft accreditation rules loosen oversight

The U.S. Education Department is releasing a draft proposal for new rules to guide the higher ed accreditation process, Bloomberg Government reported.The proposed rules loosen oversight for accreditors and religious institutions, and they give colleges more flexibility to define their own programs — particularly concerning online and competency-based education (CBE), the credit hour and correspondence courses, Inside Higher Ed reported.It will be addressed in a negotiated rulemaking session on accreditors slated to run from Jan. 14 through March.In a meeting with higher ed industry leaders last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos hinted at her department's priorities for the upcoming rulemaking session. Among them were clarifying responsibilities for accreditors and state and federal regulators, as well as determining which existing rules affecting accreditors are "ambiguous, repetitious, or unnecessarily burdensome."