Frequently Asked Questions about the APA-CoA’s Temporary Suspension of Diversity-Related Recruitment and Retention Standards
Updated December 2025
What did the CoA do when the January 21, 2025 Executive Order seeking to limit EDI/DEI in higher education was issued?
Recent executive, federal, and state legislative actions have had implications for accredited master’s, doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral residency programs, as well as programs seeking accreditation and those under accreditation review. In response, the APA Commission on Accreditation (CoA) voted on March 13, 2025, to immediately and temporarily suspend evaluation of programs for compliance with accreditation standards related to diversity in recruitment, admission/selection, and/or retention efforts. Because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld as legal, at least temporarily, the president’s anti-EDI/DEI executive order while the Trump administration challenges the district court's preliminary injunction that ruled the executive order could not be enforced during the litigation, this means that the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (EO) (Jan. 21, 2025) https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ is currently law. As a Department of Education-recognized accreditor and federal contractor, the APA CoA is required to comply with law. As such, the CoA acted to comply with the executive order as existing law (not reacting in advance to pending litigation). Additionally, it is important to note that CoA standards do not and cannot require accredited programs to violate the law to remain (or seek) accreditation.
Did the Commission on Accreditation (CoA) remove all diversity-related standards from the Standards of Accreditation (SoA)?
No. The CoA suspended its standards related to the recruitment and retention of students and faculty/staff from diverse backgrounds based on a recent Supreme Court case decision, state laws, and court interpretations of the Supreme Court decision. However, the Commission continues to require that programs at all levels (master’s, doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral residencies) provide training in individual and cultural diversity, as described in Implementing Regulations (IRs) C-8 M (master’s), C-8 D (doctoral), C-8 I (doctoral internship), and C-9 P (postdoctoral residency).
Does the suspended CoA standard mean that APA-accredited programs may now prohibit the teaching of gender diversity in psychology courses?
The SoA define “individual and cultural diversity” broadly to include “age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, language, national origin, race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.”* When it comes to gender and gender identity, nothing in the SoA requires programs to engage in politics or adopt any political stance. The Standards require programs to prepare competent practitioners who are able to provide care for individuals, including individuals who identify as transgender, grounded in the “current evidence base.”
Will CoA continue to engage in program reviews and site visits during this temporary period?
Site visits and program reviews are proceeding as scheduled.
Is the CoA engaging in advocacy efforts to challenge anti-EDI Executive Orders or state laws prohibiting diversity in institutions of higher education?
There is a division of legal roles and responsibilities between the APA and the CoA. The CoA, as a programmatic accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, multiple state licensing boards, and The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which currently protects the quality and training of psychology education for 12,000 students, cannot engage in advocacy efforts without jeopardizing its role as a neutral regulatory body, the purpose of which is to protect the interests of students, benefit the public, and improve the quality of teaching, learning, research, and practice through fair application of its Standards of Accreditation. For information about APA’s advocacy efforts, please visit www.apaservices.org/advocacy.
Are other accreditors suspending enforcement of their diversity standards?
Some accreditors never had diversity standards—so they had nothing to suspend. Other accreditors have felt compelled to remove all their diversity standards. Still other accrediting agencies, which like CoA have considered the legal landscape and also the importance of their profession’s defining what it means to be a competent professional in their field, have either suspended or revised their diversity standards on the recruitment and retention of faculty and students based on Supreme Court law.
Whom should I contact if I have more questions about APA accreditation?
You may contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at apaaccred@apa.org.
*SoA Doctoral I.B.2; accord Doctoral Internship I.B.3; Postdoctoral Residency I.B.3; Master’s SoA I.B.2.
