I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4795 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require accrediting agencies 
and associations to comply with due process throughout the accreditation 
process, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2006 
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 
accrediting agencies and associations to comply with due 
process throughout the accreditation process, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. RECOGNITION OF ACCREDITING AGENCIES 
AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
(a) DUE PROCESS.—Paragraph (6) of section 496(a) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1099b(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(6) such agency or association shall apply pro-
cedures throughout the accrediting process, includ-
ing evaluation, interim sanction, and withdrawal or 
termination of accreditation proceedings, that com-
ply with due process, including the right to— 
‘‘(A) adequate specification of the agency’s 
accrediting requirements; 
‘‘(B) written notice of deficiencies at the 
institution of higher education or program 
being examined and a reasonable time period, 
expressly set forth in the notice, to correct the 
deficiencies; 
‘‘(C) advance notice of and an opportunity 
for a hearing by any such institution before the 
agency’s decision making body prior to the 
agency’s final consideration of imposition of an 
adverse action; 
‘‘(D) appeal any adverse action by the 
agency against any such institution to an inde-
pendent and impartial arbitration panel ap-
pointed jointly by the agency and the institution 
and conducted at the location of the institution; 
‘‘(E) appeal, at a minimum, the adequacy 
of the evidence supporting the adverse action 
decision, the adequacy of the agency’s compli-
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ance with its own policies and procedures, and 
the extent to which the decision of the agency 
was tainted by bias or prejudice of any agent 
or official of the agency; 
‘‘(F) representation by counsel for any 
such institution; 
‘‘(G) an arbitration panel decision that 
may affirm or reverse, but not modify, the deci-
sion appealed by the institution; and 
‘‘(H) an allocation of the costs of the ap-
peal that requires the agency and institution to 
each bear its own attorney, witness, and other 
costs of presentation of its case at the arbitra-
tion hearing and shifts the cost of the arbitra-
tion panel and any court reporter to the losing 
party; 
except that the Secretary may issue regulations to 
further define due process requirements as needed to 
protect accredited institutions, but may not by regu-
lation reduce due process requirements available to 
accredited institutions, whether the due process is 
required under this paragraph or another provision 
of law or regulation;’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL
CRITERIA.—Section 496(a) is 
amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(7); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(9) if an agency or association conducts an as-
sessment of an institution’s governing board— 
‘‘(A) such assessment shall consistently 
apply the accreditation standard, to the great-
est extent possible, to any State-appointed re-
ceiver, special trustee, or similar interim gov-
erning authority, until such time as governing 
authority is returned to the regular governing 
board; and 
‘‘(B) such agency or association shall not 
terminate accreditation solely on the ground 
that the institution is under interim manage-
ment of a State-appointed receiver, special 
trustee, or similar governing authority unless 
the agency or association determines that there 
are other deficiencies at the institution that 
provide grounds for termination, and that, after 
providing due process required by this section, 
the interim governing authority has not cor-
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rected such deficiencies within a reasonable pe-
riod of time; and 
‘‘(10) such agency or association, and any offi-
cer or subdivision of such agency or association that 
makes accreditation recommendations to its deci-
sion-making board, shall conduct meetings open to 
public observation and comment and shall, at least 
7 days before the time of any such meeting, post 
and distribute its meeting agenda electronically and 
otherwise to the public, and, for purposes of this 
paragraph— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘meetings’ includes all meet-
ings, hearings, appeals, deliberations, and votes 
on accreditation matters regarding any edu-
cational institution or on accrediting standards, 
policies, or procedures; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary shall issue regulations 
to implement this paragraph.’’. 
(c) RECOGNITION OF STATE ACCREDITING AGEN-
CIES.—Section 496(a)(3)(B) (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)(3)(B)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘on or before October 1, 1991’’. 
Æ 
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