Breaking the Chiropractic Cartel: New Standards Empower States to Reclaim Authority Over Education and Licensure

A Grassroots Rebellion Against Monopoly Rule

In a historic and defiant move, a broad coalition of chiropractic educators, state regulatory experts, practitioners, and policy advocates has released a new framework titled Standards for Recognition of Chiropractic Accrediting Agencies. These standards were developed by a 22-member workgroup made up of leaders from independent chiropractic organizations, private practitioners, representatives of state and regional chiropractic societies, and members of the newly emerging International Agency for Chiropractic Evaluation (IACE).

CLICK HERE to review the Standards

The timing of the release is no coincidence. Across the United States, chiropractors, students, and institutions have grown increasingly frustrated with the stranglehold exerted by three private corporations: the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE), and the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). Collectively these organizations have long operated as gatekeepers to licensure and accreditation because the enjoy a monopoly, despite lacking public accountability or meaningful state oversight.

“This is about restoring balance. No private corporation should dictate who gets to practice a profession in this country.”
— Christopher Kent, DC, JD, MBA, Workgroup Chair

Who’s Behind the Standards

The workgroup includes individuals with extensive experience in chiropractic education, accreditation, clinical practice, state regulatory policy, and public health. These professionals represent a broad spectrum of the chiropractic community, including leaders from educational institutions, members of professional societies, private practitioners, and representatives of alternative accrediting bodies. Their collective expertise and shared commitment to reform laid the foundation for these new standards.

What’s Inside the Standards: Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability

The Standards for Recognition of Chiropractic Accrediting Agencies are built on principles of legal compliance, educational quality, public accountability, and institutional transparency. They offer a comprehensive framework for state boards to evaluate accrediting agencies based on merit and measurable performance—not political connections or legacy status.

The document outlines key requirements for accrediting bodies, including:

• Organizational Independence: Accrediting agencies must be legally established, transparent, and separate from trade or membership organizations that could introduce conflicts of interest.

• Conflict of Interest Protections: Agencies must enforce rigorous policies to ensure impartial decision-making, free of personal or financial bias.

• Curriculum Oversight: Agencies must ensure that institutions offer comprehensive, current, and mission-aligned educational programs, including standards for distance education.

• Evaluation and Accountability: Institutions must set and assess measurable learning outcomes, graduation rates, job placement metrics, and student satisfaction.

• Financial and Faculty Resources: Institutions must demonstrate stable funding, qualified faculty, and adequate facilities to support high-quality education.

• Due Process and Transparency: Accrediting decisions must be based on clear criteria, open to institutional appeal, and made available to the public.

• Teach-Out and Withdrawal Protocols: Agencies must require institutions to protect student interests in the event of closure or loss of accreditation.

• Complaint Resolution: Agencies must maintain accessible, responsive, and transparent complaint-handling procedures.

Importantly, the standards also include a crosswalk comparing these criteria to those used by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, reinforcing that they meet or exceed national norms for oversight.

Why These Standards Matter Now

The release of these standards follows a nationwide push, initiated under the Trump Administration, to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education’s centralized control over accreditation. Through Executive Order and policy reform, the Department began divesting power back to state governments and educational institutions—particularly in how they recognize and regulate accrediting agencies.

This realignment toward decentralization aligns perfectly with chiropractic’s historic ethos of local, patient-centered care and independence from medical orthodoxy. The new standards empower state boards to:

• Evaluate and recognize alternative accrediting bodies like the IACE

• Assert their authority over licensure

• Break free from coercive dependencies on CCE and NBCE mandates

• Protect students from costly, unvalidated licensing requirements such as NBCE’s Part IV exam

“The Trump-era reforms opened the door. These standards walk through it.”
— Dr. Brian Moriarty, Florida Chiropractic Society

Restraint of Trade and Legal Pressure on the Cartel

Multiple legal and policy experts have raised concerns about the anticompetitive practices of the CCE, NBCE, and FCLB. These private entities often operate in closed-loop relationships: CCE requires NBCE exams for graduation, NBCE pushes its tests into licensing law via the FCLB, and the FCLB reinforces CCE recognition in regulatory language—ensuring that no other organization can enter the market.

This structure has resulted in:

• Artificial barriers to licensure

• Suppression of alternative educational models

• High student debt driven by redundant and unscientific testing

• Violations of state sovereignty over licensure

“It’s a textbook cartel—vertical integration, zero transparency, and total control over who enters the profession.”
— Dr. Steve Tullius, Private Practice – Texas

The Rise of the International Agency for Chiropractic Evaluation (IACE)

One of the most significant developments driving these standards is the formal entrance of the International Agency for Chiropractic Evaluation (IACE) into the accreditation marketplace. IACE has already accredited several chiropractic institutions and has more in active review. Its growing acceptance among reform-minded chiropractic colleges signals a seismic shift in the landscape of chiropractic education.

The new standards provide the framework for states to formally recognize IACE and other emerging accrediting agencies—freeing them from the constraints of CCE’s singular authority.

State Boards Must Now Act

The workgroup is calling on all U.S. state chiropractic boards to adopt these standards immediately and begin the process of reviewing and recognizing accrediting agencies based on merit, transparency, and educational quality—not monopoly control.

“State boards have a duty—not a choice—to regulate the profession in the public interest. Ceding that duty to private corporations and granting them a monopoly is a dereliction of that responsibility.”
— Matthew McCoy, DC, MPH, Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation

This isn’t merely a bureaucratic upgrade—it’s a call to action. State boards must now reclaim their authority and adopt policies that align with the standards released by this workgroup. Doing so will protect students, foster educational innovation, and restore public trust in the profession’s integrity.

Conclusion: A Turning Point in Chiropractic History

These Standards for Recognition of Chiropractic Accrediting Agencies represent more than a regulatory blueprint—they are a declaration of independence from a cartelized system that has long compromised the growth and integrity of chiropractic.

With the federal government stepping back from centralized accreditation power, and reformers like IACE stepping into the void, the time is ripe for state boards to lead. By adopting these standards, they can help usher in a new era of fairness, freedom, and professional excellence in chiropractic education and licensure.