Loosen accreditation cartel, cap university indirect costs, wind down area studies
Mandate urges HEA amendments to break accreditation monopoly dynamics, congressional caps on university indirect cost rates, and winding down Title VI-style area studies while issuing interim regulations—part of exposing schools to market forces.
Mandate
Mandate Ch. 11 (Education) — higher-ed market reforms: work with Congress to amend HEA regarding accreditation flexibility (including support for state experiments like Florida SB 7044); Congress should cap indirect cost rates paid to universities; Congress should wind down so-called area studies programs; meantime next Administration should promulgate interim measures.
Undo plan
1) Preserve independent quality assurance while allowing alternate accreditors with rigor.
2) Negotiate F&A rate reforms that still fund shared research infrastructure.
3) Reform rather than eliminate area/language studies critical to national security.
4) Use notice-and-comment before defunding academic programs.
5) Verify: accreditor competition metrics, research output, and critical-language capacity.