Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon appointed five new members to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), including higher education experts Robert Eitel, Joshua Figueira, Dr. Jay Greene, and Dr. Steven Taylor, and Emilee Reynolds, the student representative. These knowledgeable appointees will serve a six-year term and take on a pivotal role in assessing the process of accreditation and the institutional eligibility and certification of institutions of higher education.
“Americans recognize that the accreditation process needs reform to better serve students and families, and the Trump Administration is addressing this, in part, through these reform-minded appointees,” said Under Secretary Nicholas Kent. “We can no longer accept a protectionist system in which a few powerful non-governmental entities gatekeep billions in federal student aid and licensure opportunities, overlook poor student outcomes, contribute to rising college costs and degree inflation, and prioritize divisive DEI standards over the skills students need to compete in the next-generation workforce. We are confident that these appointees, in conjunction with the Administration’s other accreditation reform initiatives, will help realign the accreditation system and get it back on track.”
One final appointee will be announced soon.
About the NACIQI Appointees:
Robert Eitel is the president of the Defense of Freedom Institute. He previously served as Deputy General Counsel at the Department in the George W. Bush Administration and served as a Senior Counselor at the Department in the first Trump Administration. Eitel also held the role of the Department’s regulatory reform officer and was involved in several efforts concerning Title IX and the Higher Education Act.
Joshua Figueira is the Deputy General Counsel and Managing Director of the Office of Compliance, Risk, and Legal Affairs at Brigham Young University - Idaho. Previously, he clerked at the U.S. District Court for the district of Utah and was an associate at a Utah law firm, specifically working in the First Amendment and Religious Organizations Practice Group.
Dr. Jay Greene is a Senior Research Fellow for the Center of Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation. His research focuses on the effects of education on character formation and civic values; he also has covered a wide range of topics, from private school choice programs to the effects field trips have on students. Before he came to Heritage, Dr. Greene founded, and served as the Chair of, the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas.
Dr. Steven Taylor is a policy director and Senior Fellow in Economic Mobility at Stand Together Trust. There, he works to educate policymakers on reforms that empower individuals to develop and leverage their skills to pursue meaningful careers and contribute to society. Dr. Taylor previously worked at the American Council on Education and founded ED2WORK®. In 2024, Governor Youngkin appointed Taylor to a four-year term on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Commonwealth’s coordinating agency for higher education.
Emilee Reynolds is currently a student at Western Carolina University (WCU), where she is pursuing a degree in integrated health science. While doing so, she has a part time job as a paramedic, a profession she became interested in while earning an associate's degree in applied science paramedics, before moving to WCU to pursue her bachelor's degree. She will serve as NACIQI’s student representative.
Background:
NACIQI is authorized under Section 114 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The committee serves as an independent advisory body, making recommendations to the Secretary on accreditation matters, including the recognition of institutional and programmatic accrediting agencies. Recommendations from NACIQI, along with recommendations from Department staff, are provided to the Senior Department Official, who then issues a final decision on recognition matters.
Once an agency is recognized, it is subject to continuous monitoring by the Department. The Department may initiate a review of an agency at any time if information arises that raises concerns about the agency's compliance with regulatory criteria.
NACIQI is composed of 18 experts in the higher education field who are appointed by the Department and Congress for six-year terms. The Secretary of Education appoints six members to the committee, including the student representative, while each chamber of Congress appoints six members.
By law, NACIQI is required to meet twice per year. The committee met for the first time this year in February and is scheduled to meet for a second time on December 16, 2025.
For more information on the upcoming NACIQI meeting, including the meeting agenda, see here.