A committee of negotiators approved a draft set of federal regulations that would overhaul U.S. higher-education accreditation, adding new responsibilities for accreditors and member colleges. The draft, expected to be finalized through the federal rulemaking process, is designed to align with a 2025 executive order that emphasizes student achievement and intellectual diversity and restricts policies accreditors can require around racial diversity. Officials argue accreditation is no longer a reliable indicator of quality and that the new framework would restore meaning by focusing accrediting decisions on minimum student outcomes. Critics counter that the approach risks government overreach into institutional autonomy and academic freedom, and may increase costs and administrative burden. A central flashpoint involves proposals that would require accreditors to set minimum student outcomes and require colleges to accept credits from other accredited institutions without accounting for selectivity differences. Negotiators also debated how those student-outcome provisions are structured within the rules after concerns about statutory limits.