The Heritage Foundation published a new set of higher-education proposals that would move federal student-aid oversight away from traditional accreditors and toward state authorities and alternative certifiers. Adam Kissel, a Heritage visiting fellow, framed the change as a way to force accreditors to focus on quality improvement rather than gatekeeping. The proposal follows Project 2025, which shaped the Trump administration’s higher-ed agenda in 2025, and signals a potential second-phase push to rewrite accountability for federal Title IV dollars. If adopted, the shift would reshape institutional compliance, state oversight roles and the market for third-party certifiers. Colleges and accreditors could face rapid operational and financial disruption: institutions that rely on federal aid for the majority of tuition revenue would need new pathways to maintain Pell and loan access. State education agencies and alternative quality-assurance providers would gain outsized influence over program eligibility and institutional lifecycles.