The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), meeting under the Trump administration, probed accrediting practices and signaled appetite for change while ultimately re-recognizing several major accreditors. The session, which featured partisan procedural friction, focused scrutiny on student outcomes, program ROI and the growth of alternative accrediting entities. Reporting and investigations have chronicled an orchestrated push by policymakers and advocates to reshape accreditation—citing concerns that legacy accreditors are ideologically driven or unduly burdensome. Two Georgia universities have already volunteered to join a new, controversial accreditor, illustrating how institutions are testing the evolving regulatory environment. Why it matters: federal accreditation oversight is a lever for reshaping quality assurance, institutional access to federal funds, and the competitive landscape for colleges that may seek faster or ideologically aligned accreditors.