The U.S. Department of Education awarded $14.5 million to 15 projects aimed at changing how colleges demonstrate quality, funding initiatives that could underwrite up to 10 new accrediting agencies. The grants, issued through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, respond to an April 2025 executive order urging accreditation reform and fund organizations proposing alternative oversight models. For colleges, the investments signal potential structural change in accountability, program approval and institutional validation that could alter transfer, funding and program viability across higher education.