Keep Accreditation About Academics
Across the country, accrediting agencies are using their power to push colleges and universities into adopting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Even in Missouri, where DEI has already been banned in higher education, accreditors are still trying to impose ideological standards that have nothing to do with academics.
The Keep Accreditation About Academics Act would put a stop to that.
The Problem
Most of the major college accreditors in the United States have built DEI principles into their standards for accreditation. One accreditor requires that each school “intentionally advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its activities.”
That means colleges are judged not by the quality of their teaching or research, but by how well they meet an accreditor’s political goals. It’s also against Missouri law.
That puts schools between a rock and a hard place.
Some schools have already changed their policies to please accreditors.
The University of Connecticut requires students to take a course on ‘anti-Black racism’ in order to graduate.
A hiring committee at the University of Washington admitted to re-ranking job candidates to move a Black applicant from third place to first to demonstrate DEI compliance. That move broke the school’s own rules, but administrators said they did it to satisfy accreditation pressure.
School administrators should not be forced to choose between compliance with state law and compliance with their accreditors.
Missouri’s Stand Against DEI
Missouri has already taken big steps to keep DEI ideology out of state government and education.
In February, Governor Mike Kehoe signed Executive Order 25-18, which directs all executive branch agencies to eliminate DEI programs, remove DEI language from hiring, and ensure that every Missourian is treated equally under the law.
In signing the order, Governor Kehoe set out the standard for his administration: “We must promote fairness and equal opportunity, not division.”
Even Missouri State eliminated its DEI programs to comply with State and Federal Law.
But still, accrediting agencies can still pressure schools by tying accreditation to DEI requirements.
The Keep Accreditation About Academics Act closes that loophole.
The Keep Accreditation About Academics Act
The bill keeps accreditation focused on academics, not ideology. It prohibits accreditors from:
- Collecting or considering DEI information when reviewing colleges,
- Requiring DEI policies or offices, and
- Making any accreditation decisions based on DEI standards.
That means schools will be judged by what really matters: teaching quality, student success, and research performance.
The bill would ban accrediting agencies from requiring Schools to violate state law in order to maintain accreditation.
If an accreditor violates the law, the Attorney General can take legal action.
The Supreme Court ruled that colleges cannot discriminate based on race, even in the name of diversity.
President Trump ordered the federal government not to recognize accreditors that promote unlawful discrimination.
The Keep Accreditation About Academics Act aligns with those decisions and strengthens Missouri’s own laws on equal treatment.
Why It Matters
Accreditation affects everything from student aid to degree recognition. When accreditors push DEI mandates, they force schools to choose between following Missouri law and keeping their accreditation.
That’s not right.
Missouri’s leaders have made it clear that education should be about merit, excellence, and opportunity.
The Keep Accreditation About Academics Act ensures that that principle is protected at every level
Andy Bakker
Executive Director
Liberty Alliance USA