100 STAT. 1574
PUBLIC LAW 99-498—OCT. 17, 1986 "COMMISSION TO STUDY POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONAL AND PROGRAMMATIC RECOGNITION PROCESS
20 USC 1145a.
r
^
'5
"SEC. 1206. (a) There is established in the legislative branch a Joint Study Commission on Postsecondary Institutional Recognition (hereafter in this section referred to as the 'Commission'). "(b) The Commission shall be composed of 5 members appointed jointly by the President pro tempore of the Senate, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, and by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader. "(c)(1) Members of the Commission shall be appointed, on the basis of their integrity, impartiality, and good judgment, from among individuals who, as a result of their training, experience, and attainment, are widely recognized by professionals in the fields of education and governmental administration as experts in those fields. "(2) A majority of the members of the Commission may not, at the time of their appointment, be serving as either employees or officers of any accrediting agency or an organization of accrediting agencies, currently serving as administrators of accredited institutions, or be current or past members of the Advisory Committee on Accreditation and Institutional Eligibility of the Department. "(3) Vacancies in the membership of the Commission shall not affect the power of the remaining members to perform the duties of the Commission and shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made. "(4) Each member of the Commission not otherwise employed by the United States Government shall receive the daily equivalent of the annual basic pay for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during which such member is actually engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commission. Each member of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses in the same manner as any individual employed intermittently by the Federal Government is allowed travel expenses under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code. "(d)(1) The Commission shall conduct a thorough study of the institutional and programmatic recognition process used by the Department in determining institutional or programmatic eligibility for student participation in Federal student assistance programs under this Act with attention being given to the accreditation of various types of public and private postsecondary institutions and programs. "(2) The study shall address, analyze, and report specifically on— "(A) the comprehensiveness of the standards and criteria used by existing accreditation agencies; "(B) the reliability and validity of the institutional and pro^, grammatic review processes used by the existing accreditation agencies; "(C) the adequacy of the current accreditation methodology i'<i and system; "(D) alternative structures, standards, criteria, and processes f '^ that might be used in accrediting institutions and programs; "(E) the indicators of educational quality that might be incor,^ porated into the accreditation process; ja «(p^ Yie educational outcome measurements that might be used in the accreditation process;
�
