The Department of Education and the Justice Department have taken coordinated steps this month to rewire higher-education oversight. At a Dec. 16 NACIQI meeting, Under Secretary Nicholas Kent signaled a sweeping push to refocus accreditation on graduation rates, earnings and “academic rigor,” and to curtail what the administration calls ideological influences on accreditors. Kent named Jay Greene, a critic of current accreditation practice, as NACIQI chair after a tie vote. In a related legal shift, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo finding several long-standing, race‑targeted grant programs for minority‑serving institutions unconstitutional, recommending the Education Department repurpose funds under race‑neutral criteria. The DOJ memo and the administration’s changes to NACIQI together create a policy pathway for altering both recognition of accreditors and federal funding eligibility. What happened: Education Department leadership has begun a campaign to rewrite recognition standards, and DOJ legal guidance clears a route to reallocate race‑conscious funding. Who’s involved: U.S. Department of Education (Under Secretary Nicholas Kent), NACIQI, DOJ Office of Legal Counsel, Jay Greene. Sources: NACIQI meeting record; DOJ memo.