Prepare a substantive-change request for a higher education institution

Key facts

Human involvement

Yellow · Close supervision

How AI is used

From the change record, list what will change, the day the institution decided on it, and which item in 34 CFR 602.22(a)(1)(ii) the change resembles. Do not decide that the agency's approval is required, and do not write the request.

What the lawyer must review

You decide whether the accreditor must approve the change before it is inside the scope of accreditation, and you write the request. 34 CFR 602.22 requires an institutional accreditor to have the institution obtain the agency's approval of a substantive change before the agency includes the change in the scope of accreditation or preaccreditation it previously granted. The agency's definition must cover at least the changes in paragraph (a)(1)(ii), including a substantial change in mission or objectives, a change in legal status, form of control, or ownership, addition of programs that are a significant departure, including in method of delivery, addition of graduate programs by an institution that previously offered only undergraduate programs or certificates, a change in how student progress is measured, a substantial increase in clock or credit hours or in the credential level, acquisition of another institution or of a program or location of another institution, addition of a permanent location at a teach-out site, addition of a new location or branch campus except as paragraph (c) provides, a written arrangement under 34 CFR 668.5 in which an institution not certified for Title IV offers more than 25 percent and less than 50 percent of a program, and addition of a direct-assessment program. For a request under paragraph (a)(1)(ii)(J), the agency must make a final decision within 90 days of a materially complete request, unless significant circumstances require the decision-making body to decide within 180 days. An institution on probation or equivalent status, subject to a negative action over the prior three academic years, or under a provisional certification, must receive prior approval for the further changes in paragraph (b), including a change in an existing program's method of delivery. All other institutions must report those paragraph (b) changes within 30 days. 34 CFR 602.24(a) separately requires the agency to require notice, and a business plan, if the institution plans to establish a branch campus, and a site visit as soon as practicable and no later than six months after that campus is established. The agency's own substantive-change procedures set the form of the request.

Written for / version

United States versionUS