New Accreditation Policy and Procedures

The Commission has developed the Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures to articulate the Commission’s expectations for quality, integrity, transparency, and disclosure for institutions working with third-party providers. The policy and procedures also address written arrangements, which require approval prior to implementation through substantive change process. The Commission developed Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures following an analysis of the role of third-party providers in higher education as well as in consideration of the 25 comments received during the call for public comments period. As a result of the comments, the Commission made a number of clarifications to the definition of third-party provider, which is limited in scope within the Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation (Fourteenth Edition), Evidence Expectations by Standard Guidelines, policies and procedures, and applicable federal regulatory requirements.

The Commission has always had expectations for institutions relating to integrity and truthful representation in arrangements with third-party providers dating back to the Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education (2011). Key considerations from Commission policies and guidelines that touched on third-party providers have been incorporated into the new Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures. As a result, the former policies known as Contracts by Accredited and Candidate Institutions for Education-Related Services, International Programs Offered by Accredited Institutions, as well as Third-Party Providers Guidelines, are withdrawn effective January 1, 2024.

The new policy addresses the use of third-party providers by institutions and requires that institutions maximize transparency and student considerations in these relationships, provide forthright reporting and disclosure of any such relationships and their terms, and follow any federal or state regulations that may also govern the provider relationship. The procedures describe the evidence required for Commission review of third-party providers during accreditation activities as well as prior approval of written arrangements through substantive change.

The policy and procedures will become effective on January 1, 2024, and will be available on the Browse Policies and Procedures page and can be found using the search filter. The Commission will release a summary of the comments on the Policies Under Review page in January 2024.

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