President Barack Obama signed the Accreditation of English Language Training Programs Act (Accreditation Act) into law in December 2010. The Accreditation Act requires all English language training programs of study (commonly referred to as ESL programs) either to have or to have applied for accreditation before December 15, 2011. This accreditation must be by a regional or national accrediting agency that the Department of Education currently recognizes.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) has a responsibility to enforce the Accreditation Act and ensure that all SEVP-certified ESL programs that enroll nonimmigrant students are in compliance with it. As this process began, SEVP recognized that the enforcement of the Accreditation Act is a complex issue with various scenarios and interpretations to address. SEVP accepted feedback on the Accreditation of English Language Training Programs Act Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from June 29, 2012, to July 20, 2012.

After reviewing the feedback that stakeholders provided, SEVP has revised the Accreditation Act guidance. Draft and final guidance can also be found on the SEVP Guidance page.