The Heritage Foundation published a new set of higher‑education reforms that includes stripping accreditors of their gatekeeper role for federal aid, pushing oversight to states and private reviewers. The paper — part of Project 2025’s follow‑up — calls for decoupling accreditation and federal student‑aid decisions, a move proponents say will spur innovation and critics call disruptive to quality assurance. At the state level, Oklahoma’s executive order to phase out tenure has intensified concern among faculty and shared‑governance advocates. University leaders and governance bodies in multiple states say the Oklahoma action raises questions about academic freedom, recruitment, and retention of tenure‑track faculty. Together, the federal blueprint and state actions mark a coordinated policy push that could rewrite institutional accountability and governance structures.