Warren Renews Push to Overhaul Accreditation System and Higher Education Accountability

In light of Trump’s effort to weaponize accreditation system, bill would center student outcomes and consumer protections, tackle conflicts of interest and failing accreditors Bill Text (PDF) | One Pager (PDF) Washington, D.C. — United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2026 (AREAA). The legislation would take steps to reduce student debt and protect students and taxpayers by reforming higher education accreditation and centering student outcomes and consumer protection. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) co-sponsored the bill. College accreditation is the cornerstone of the nation’s higher education quality assurance system— safeguarding the integrity of American higher education, guaranteeing quality for students and families, and serving as a critical gatekeeper to tens of billions of dollars a year in student aid investments from the federal government. But the Trump administration has signaled that it seeks to weaponize the accreditation process to favor colleges that align with conservative ideology and undermine colleges that do not. Between 2021 and 2024, the Department of Education determined that 1.7 million borrowers were defrauded by accredited schools. The lack of accountability and poor oversight have allowed poor-performing and even fraudulent colleges to flourish at the expense of students and taxpayers, leading to the Wall Street Journal calling college accreditors “watchdogs (that) rarely bite.” “At a time when students are already struggling to get affordable and quality educations, Congress can’t let Donald Trump weaponize the accreditation system,” said Senator Warren . “We need to overhaul our accreditation system to make sure students get an education that will improve their lives, not leave them jobless and buried in debt.” “As students in Illinois and across the country prepare to return to campus, Congress should be working to ensure they receive a quality education that does not leave them buried in debt and without a viable career path,” said Senator Durbin . “For too long, predatory for-profit colleges have taken in billions of dollars in federal student aid while leaving students with mountains of debt and low-value degrees. The Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act would strengthen oversight by requiring accreditors to consider student outcomes, requiring enhanced scrutiny of institutions facing government investigations or findings related to fraud or deceptive practices, and holding accreditors accountable when they fail to protect students and taxpayers.” The Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act would: Require the Department of Education to establish measures of student outcomes (e.g., measures of academic progression, loan repayment outcomes, post-college earnings, and debt relative to earnings) that accreditors must use when evaluating colleges and assess accreditors to determine whether they are setting appropriately high standards. Strengthen consumer protections by forcing accreditors to respond quickly to federal and state investigations and lawsuits regarding fraud or fiscal misconduct and by requiring accreditors to take action to protect students in the face of other warning signs of institutional instability. Increase transparency around accreditation decisions for students, families, and regulators. Clean up conflicts of interest in college accreditation between accreditors and the colleges they accredit. Increase accountability by making it easier for the Department of Education to terminate or fine accreditors that fail to do their job. Prevent accreditation oversight from being transferred outside of the Department of Education. Senator Warren first introduced the Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act in 2016. Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education: On July 16, 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee , U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Francis Brooke, nominee to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, to answer basic questions about the largest student loan default crisis in recorded history, which the Treasury Department has now inherited as part of President Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. Mr. Brooke was unable to answer questions about the size of the default crisis and potential effects on Social Security benefits for seniors with defaulted loans. On July 6, 2026, in response to a May 2026 request from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent government watchdog, confirmed it would investigate whether the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds. On June 8, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Merkley (D-Ore.), along with Representatives Pressley (D-Mass.) and Carson (D-Ind.), led 62 members of Congress in pressing the Department of Education to immediately address the largest student loan default and delinquency crisis on record, which has been made worse by the Trump administration’s policies. On May 28, 2026, in response to a request from Senator Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent government watchdog, confirmed the expansion of its investigation into the Department of Education’s (ED) transfer of critical programs to other agencies through interagency agreements (IAAs), including the transfer of student loan default collections to the Department of the Treasury. GAO previously confirmed it had initiated an investigation into ED’s transfer of grant programs for career and technical education and adult education to the Department of Labor. On May 21, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to open a new investigation into whether the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds. On May 4, 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released new responses from the Department of Education and the Treasury Department demonstrating that the agencies cannot articulate a clear purpose or plan for implementing their illegal interagency agreement (IAA) transferring the administration of federal student loans to Treasury. On April 28, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Student Loan Ombudsman , Geoffrey Gradler, on his plan to protect student loan borrowers, especially given his past censorship of a key student loan report at the CFPB and his background as a lobbyist for lenders. The senators also asked him to recuse himself from past clients’ matters that might come before his office at the CFPB. On April 2, 2026, Senators Warren, Sanders, Wyden, Murray, and Baldwin—all top Democrats on influential education committees—pressed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind their plans to move the administration of federal student loans to the Treasury Department, the latest move in the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education. On February 23, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Representative Ayanna Pressley, released a response from the Department of Education to their November letter regarding a potential sale of the federal student debt portfolio. In the response, ED confirms for the first time publicly that they are weighing a sale of the federal student loan portfolio. On February 19, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) pushed Education Secretary Linda McMahon on concerns that the U.S. Department of Education is apparently obstructing Congressional efforts to hold federal student loan servicers accountable for underperformance. On February 2, 2026, Senator Warren released a new report revealing the findings of their investigation into how private student loan lenders will reap the benefits from cuts to federal student loan access enacted in Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBBA). The report is the first Congressional analysis of the impacts of the OBBBA’s student loan restrictions on the private lending market. On January 22, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) led their Senate colleagues in demanding answers from Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable student loan repayment options for millions of Americans. On December 8, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in writing to the federal student loan servicers to ensure they are providing borrowers with the customer service they deserve in the wake of the Trump administration’s student loan policy whiplash. The senators sent letters to MOHELA, Nelnet, EdFinancial, Maximus, and CRI. On December 1, 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in USA Today calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to resign following the recent news that President Trump and Secretary McMahon plan to further dismantle the Department of Education (ED). On November 17, 2025, Senator Warren led over 40 of her colleagues in a letter urging Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to immediately end any plans to sell or transfer the federal student loan portfolio to the private market. On November 10, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in a letter urging the Trump administration to use the IRS’s existing legal authorities to stop the looming “tax bomb” facing borrowers who obtain income-driven repayment (IDR) discharges of their student loan debt. On October 15, 2025, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led 70 members of Congress in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have disastrous effects on the American economy. On September 19, 2025, following a push by Senator Warren and nine other senators, the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education agreed to open an investigation into DOGE’s infiltration of internal systems, including the scope of its access to sensitive student loan borrower information and its impact on borrowers’ rights and privacy. On August 26, 2025, Senator Warren led colleagues in sending a follow-up letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon condemning the Department of Education for deliberately hiding the “Submit a Complaint” button on the Office of Federal Student Aid’s website, firing employees responsible for providing customer service to borrowers and families and misleading Congress about the scope of these firings. On August 4, 2025, Senator Warren led eight Senators in pressing major private student loan lenders on their plans to serve the incoming surge of borrowers who will be pushed to the industry because of Republicans’ recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill.” On July 17, 2025, Senator Warren released a new 23-page report , “Education At Risk: Frontline Impacts of Trump’s War on Students,” highlighting warnings from 11 major national education and civil rights organizations on the impact of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED), slashing support to millions of American students, primary and secondary school teachers, administrators, parents, and student loan borrowers. On July 15, 2025, Senators Warren and Sanders, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the interest hike on student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance. ###