Federal pressure and regulatory moves are forcing accreditation bodies and colleges to change how they demonstrate quality. At the Council for Higher Education Accreditation conference, sector leaders described a year of “policy whiplash” as the Education Department shifts grant funding, pauses reviews, and signals new rules to lower barriers for alternative accreditors. Jon Fansmith of the American Council on Education warned the changes could politicize accreditation. The administration has redirected $7 million to seed new accreditors and has ordered accreditors to emphasize student outcomes over DEI-related standards. Colleges that rely on federal research funding face conditional compliance reviews and new reporting requirements. Legal experts at the conference cautioned institutions to prepare for faster reviews of new accrediting agencies and potential changes to recognition standards. Colleges and accreditors are now scrambling to document outcomes, tighten oversight of programs, and model compliance that satisfies both federal directives and academic autonomy. The coming months are likely to bring rulemaking and litigation that will determine whether accreditation remains institutionally independent or becomes more directly governed by federal priorities.