The Department of Education published a final rule on Oct. 30 that revises federal policies governing higher education accreditor recognition and oversight and makes few substantive changes to the proposed rule released on Aug. 20 [refer to Washington Highlights, Sept. 25]. Of relevance to academic medicine, the final rule de-emphasizes peer review as an essential element of accreditation and prohibits shared resources, including personnel, services, equipment, facilities, information technology, and office space, between an accrediting agency and “any related, associated, or affiliated trade association or professional organization.”
The AAMC joined two letters in response to the proposed rule in September. The comments from a coalition led by the American Council on Education (PDF) supported efforts to streamline initial accreditation processes while cautioning against provisions that could increase costs and add administrative requirements. The coalition also called for additional stakeholder engagement in the rulemaking process. Joint comments from the AAMC and the American Medical Association (PDF) focused on medical education accreditation, expressing concern that the proposed changes could undermine the highly effective existing accreditation system that establishes and enforces national standards that safeguard the quality of medical education, prepare medical school graduates for future practice as physicians, and benefit the public. The final rule maintains the provisions of greatest concern.