Please urge your Members of Congress to use their oversight powers to press the Department of Education to halt or substantially revise proposed changes to accreditation policies in U.S. colleges and universities. The current proposal threatens the quality of doctoral psychology education and training, and undermines efforts to meet the nation’s behavioral health workforce shortage.

A sweeping proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Education, which was issued on August 20, 2026, seeks to change the regulations governing federal recognition of accrediting agencies (institutional and programmatic). While framed as modernization and regulatory burden reduction by the Department, the proposal, if adopted as written, will jeopardize the ability of programmatic accreditors to ensure the quality of professional education and training, including in doctoral psychology. 

The Department is aiming to finalize the rule by November 1, 2026, with a July 1, 2027, implementation date, so the time to act is now!

Specifically, the proposal could:

• Undermine rigorous, discipline-specific accreditation for doctoral psychology programs by adding unnecessary burdens and requirements irrelevant to ensuring programmatic quality.
• Reduce the role of expert peer review and discipline-specific professional judgment.
• Undermine the assurance that graduates are prepared to be licensed practitioners to serve the unmet needs of all communities, including rural, youth, and veterans.
• Threaten access to federal workforce development programs that support training, field placements, faculty development, and service in high-need settings.
• Hinder efforts to address behavioral health workforce shortages and growing mental health needs, especially in underserved communities.

All together, these changes pose a serious risk to protecting the public by threatening the quality of doctoral psychology education and training and the nation’s ability to build a strong, well-trained behavioral health workforce. 

Given the magnitude of the proposed changes, Congress must use its oversight authority to ensure that any changes to accreditation policy: preserve rigorous subject-matter review; protect the quality of psychology education and training to meet the mental health needs of the public; and maintain access to federal workforce development investments. 

Congress plays an essential role in protecting federal education and health workforce programs, and ensuring that regulatory changes do not undermine public access to qualified behavioral health providers.

The time to join our campaign is NOW. Psychology’s voice is needed to explain to Congress the critical connection among rigorous accreditation, doctoral psychology training, and access to a qualified behavioral health workforce across the United States.

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