The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) urged careful review of proposed federal accreditation changes, warning they could expand expectations for accreditors beyond peer review into legal compliance and other responsibilities. CHEA said accreditation should remain a peer-driven quality assurance process rather than a mechanism for federal oversight of institutional governance. CHEA also raised concerns about standardized student-outcome frameworks that may fail to reflect differences in mission and student populations. It flagged potential implications for transfer-of-credit expectations—shifting toward “acceptance unless there is a clear academic reason not to”—as a pressure point for institutional autonomy. CHEA’s statement landed as institutions and accreditors monitor how negotiated rulemaking could affect accreditation structure, competition among accreditors, and the boundaries between federal, state, and institutional roles.