The U.S. Department of Education released draft regulations to overhaul how accreditation agencies operate, including a process that eases pathways for new accreditors and requires accrediting bodies to include standards related to intellectual diversity among faculty. The draft was released ahead of negotiated rulemaking, with sessions slated to begin next week. The changes align with a 2025 executive order that targeted DEI standards within certain accreditors after the Education Department previously required accreditors to eliminate or risk losing federal recognition. The draft also proposes accreditation requirements that agencies comply with federal and state laws, including what the agency describes as prohibitions on preferential treatment based on protected characteristics. Legal challenges have already shaped the department’s approach: a federal court struck down the Education Department’s anti-DEI guidance in August after earlier arguments about the reach of the Supreme Court’s race-conscious admissions ruling. Campus accreditors and institutions will now watch how the negotiated rulemaking process modifies or constrains those requirements before final rules take effect.