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H.R. 4054 119th Congress House

Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act

Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reform accreditation.

Introduced: June 20, 2025 Introduced by: Randy Fine Republican · Florida See on congress.gov
Education Academic performance and assessmentsAdministrative remediesAdvisory bodiesGovernment information and archives
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Higher educationIntergovernmental relationsPerformance measurementReligionState and local government operationsStudent aid and college costsStudent recordsTeaching, teachers, curriculaWages and earnings
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 Everywhere this bill has been 6 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Dec 18, 2025
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 360.
Dec 18, 2025
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-414.
Jun 25, 2025
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 21 - 15.
Jun 25, 2025
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Jun 20, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Jun 20, 2025
Introduced in House
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What's happening now December 18, 2025

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 360.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act

This bill revises the accreditation process for reviewing the quality of education offered by institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Under current law, an IHE seeking to participate in many federal programs (e.g., federal student aid programs) must be accredited by an agency recognized by the Department of Education (ED) as a reliable authority on the quality of the education being offered at the IHE. An ED-recognized accrediting agency must meet various provisions under the Higher Education Act of 1965 and in regulations.

Under this bill, states may designate an entity (e.g., an industry-specific quality assurance entity) as an accrediting agency for programs or IHEs in the state. The bill outlines the requirements for the state to submit a plan to ED and for ED to respond to the plan. 

Additionally, the bill provides an accelerated path to recognition by authorizing ED to recognize new accrediting agencies within two years of their application. 

ED must convene a panel of experts to develop common terminology for accrediting agencies to use in making accrediting decisions and publish those recommendations.

Further, the bill (1) requires accrediting agencies to establish specified standards for measures assessing student success (e.g., labor market outcomes), and (2) requires accrediting agencies to establish procedures for assessing compliance with agency standards that reflect an IHE's risk of losing accreditation.

The bill reauthorizes through September 30, 2028, and revises the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, which advises ED on matters related to accreditation.

 Hearings & markups 1
 Bill text 2 versions

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 22

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

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 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Messmer, Mark B.
Indiana · Jul 2, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4054: Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-4054/
MLA
"H.R. 4054: Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-4054/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 4054, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-4054/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 4054: Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-4054/)
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