APA Accreditation of Internship Training Centers
by the APA Education Directorate, Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation

Over the years many students have wondered why certain service centers that provide internship training for doctoral candidates in psychology are not APA-accredited. The answer often given by directors or training or other psychologists associated with those centers is that accreditation is too expensive. This has been especially the case with public, community-based service centers in eras during which their state or local public funding has been reduced.

The Committee on Accreditation is certainly sensitive to issues of accreditation costs and regularly reviews its fee structures in relation to these market issues. In fact, over the past five years the fee structure for internship programs has not changed and, in the case of postdoctoral residency programs, has accommodated cost concerns for programs of different size. The fee structure, available for public review here, is such that an accredited internship or postdoctoral program’s annual fee is $2,000. During the year of initial application and subsequent reviews, including the site visit, the cost would be $5,000. In as much as internship and postdoctoral programs can be accredited now for 7-year periods, if one were to amortize the cost of accreditation per year over that interval, it would come to slightly less than $2,500/year.

Given the value of accreditation in all licensed professions, psychology being no exception, it is essential that accredited programs adhere to certain standards, principles, and guidelines of education and training. The Committee on Accreditation makes those public for students as well as others to review at the website noted above, with guidelines applicable to doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral residency programs. While one of the major standards for accreditation pertains to resources for the program, and the Committee on Accreditation has maintained an operative policy over several decades in support of intern stipends, there is no specified minimum financial support for a program to be accredited, whether in terms of internship stipends or other forms of such support. What the Committee on Accreditation often discovers is that internship programs that cannot afford the accreditation fee structure are also programs that lack sufficient financial resources to satisfy other standards and guidelines of accreditation.

If non-accredited internship and postdoctoral programs that offer or wish to offer professional training in psychology have questions about the sufficiency of their resources, they are advised to consult with Dr. Susan Zlotlow, Director, Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association.