Standards of Accreditation Revision
The APA is required to undergo periodic review to maintain recognition as an accrediting agency by the United States Department of Education (ED or Department) and the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The APA’s scope of recognition includes the accreditation of doctoral programs in health service psychology (i.e., clinical, counseling, and school psychology, combinations of two or more of these practice areas and other developed practice areas in health service psychology), doctoral internship programs in health service psychology, and postdoctoral residency programs in health service psychology. As such, accreditation standards and procedures must align with the recognition criteria of both the ED and the CHEA.
The Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA) outline education and training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. This call for comment reflects revisions to the SoA that follow calls made in 2023 and Spring 2024 and are reflective of the comments received. This third round of public comment includes revisions to language related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to clarify the Commission on Accreditation’s (APA-CoA) expectations for the integration of EDI in programs at all levels of training to create a supportive learning environment that maximizes student/trainee success. In addition, these revisions modified language to make clear that all programs are expected to engage in affirmative efforts to foster EDI while recognizing the various considerations that may apply to programs.
In accordance with the APA "Policies for Accreditation Governance" and U.S. Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA will make the proposed revisions available for a sixty (60) day period of public review and comment. The comment period is scheduled to begin at
5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on November 22, 2024 and will continue through 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time on January 21, 2025. Information about the proposed standards and public comment is available at
http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment/.
Standards of Accreditation Revision
The APA is required to undergo periodic review to maintain recognition as an accrediting agency by the United States Department of Education (ED or Department) and the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The APA’s scope of recognition includes the accreditation of doctoral programs in health service psychology (i.e., clinical, counseling, and school psychology, combinations of two or more of these practice areas and other developed practice areas in health service psychology), doctoral internship programs in health service psychology, and postdoctoral residency programs in health service psychology. As such, accreditation standards and procedures must align with the recognition criteria of both the ED and the CHEA.
The Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA) outline education and training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. This call for comment reflects revisions to the SoA that follow calls made in 2023 and Spring 2024 and are reflective of the comments received. This third round of public comment includes revisions to language related to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to clarify the Commission on Accreditation’s (APA-CoA) expectations for the integration of EDI in programs at all levels of training to create a supportive learning environment that maximizes student/trainee success. In addition, these revisions modified language to make clear that all programs are expected to engage in affirmative efforts to foster EDI while recognizing the various considerations that may apply to programs.
In accordance with the APA "Policies for Accreditation Governance" and U.S. Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA will make the proposed revisions available for a sixty (60) day period of public review and comment. The comment period is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on November 22, 2024 and will continue through 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time on January 21, 2025. Information about the proposed standards and public comment is available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment/.