Accreditation is both a status and a process. As a status, accreditation provides public notification that an institution or program meets standards of quality set forth by an accrediting agency. As a process, accreditation reflects the fact that in achieving recognition by the accrediting agency, the institution or program is committed to self-study and external review by one's peers in seeking not only to meet standards but to continuously seek ways in which to enhance the quality of education and training provided.

Psychology's accrediting body, the Commission on Accreditation (CoA), publishes guidelines and procedures by which its accreditation process is carried out. It also publishes a list of accredited programs annually in the December edition of the American Psychologist.

The APA Commission on Accreditation is a specialized/professional accreditor. This means that APA accreditation only extends to specific doctoral graduate programs, predoctoral internships and postdoctoral residencies in professional psychology. The accredited status of one specific program does not extend to other programs in the same department or institution.

Regional accreditation covers entire institutions. There are six regional accrediting bodies in the United States, and each is authorized to accredit institutions in specific states, divided by geographic region.  APA-accredited doctoral graduate programs must be housed in an institution that has regional accreditation. However, an institution may hold regional accreditation and not have any APA-accredited programs.

For more information on regional accrediting bodies, please visit their websites:

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education

• New England Association of Schools and Colleges

• North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement

• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

• Western Association of Schools and Colleges

National accreditation also covers entire institutions, and national accrediting agencies operate across the entire United States. Many of their accredited institutions are single-purpose (such as for education in technology) or faith-based.

Prospective students are encouraged to inquire of programs directly what type of accreditation they, or the institutions in which they are housed, hold. Such status can be confirmed with the appropriate regional, national or specialized/professional accrediting body.

Degree mills (also known as diploma mills) are institutions that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study. Sometimes such institutions claim to be accredited by an accreditation mill — agencies that claim to be providers of accreditation and quality assurance without a proper basis (recognition by an external agency such as the U.S. Department of Education or the Council of Higher Education Accreditation). Both degree and accreditation mills mislead students and have harmful consequences. In the United States, such degrees may not be acknowledged by other institutions, employers, licensing boards, credentialing agencies and other groups. A program or institution’s “accreditation” from an accreditation mill can mislead students and the public about the quality of that program/institution. Thus, students may spend money and not receive a proper credential or a useable credential. More information about degree and accreditation mills can be found on the Council of Higher Education Accreditation website.

Doctoral graduate programs in:

• Clinical

• Counseling

• School psychology

• Other developed practice areas

• Combinations of two or three of those areas

Predoctoral internships in the above areas may be accredited.

Postdoctoral residencies in traditional (clinical, counseling, school) or specialty areas of professional psychology are also accredited.

The CoA does not accredit master's level or undergraduate level programs in psychology.

Accreditation is a process that assures the educational community and the general public that an institution or a program has clearly defined and appropriate objectives and maintains conditions under which their achievement can reasonably be expected. It encourages improvement through continuous self-study and review. It fosters excellence in postsecondary education through the development of principles and guidelines for assessing educational effectiveness.

Although graduating from an accredited program does not guarantee jobs or licensure for individuals, it may facilitate such achievement. It reflects the quality by which an educational institution or a program conducts its business. It speaks to a sense of public trust, as well as to professional quality.

As a student: Accreditation provides assurance that the program in which you are enrolled or are considering enrolling is engaged in continuous review and improvement of its quality, that it meets nationally endorsed standards in the profession, and that it is accountable for achieving what it sets out to do.

As a faculty member: Accreditation provides a formal process for ongoing evaluation and improvement of your program and faculty development outcomes, a process by which faculty, students, and administration can work together in advancing the educational institution's mission.

As a psychologist: Accreditation provides a forum in which educators and practitioners of psychology can exchange ideas on future needs of the profession and ways in which to best address these needs in professional education and training.

As a member of the public: Accreditation ensures public accountability of a program or an institution -- that it has the means and demonstrates the outcomes for its educational process that are consistent with its goals and objectives; in other words, that there is 'truth in advertising.'

The following decisions are available to the Commission on Accreditation (CoA) with respect to the accredited status of a program:

1. "Accredited" designates a program, which, in the professional judgment of the CoA, is consistent, substantively and procedurally, with the Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation of Programs in Professional Psychology (G&P) (PDF, 460KB).

2. "Accredited, inactive" designates a doctoral program that has not admitted students for two successive years or an internship/postdoctoral residency program that has no funded interns/residents in a given training year. Requests for inactive status are granted for one year at a time. Request for renewal of inactive status must be done on an annual basis. Programs not granted renewal of inactive status may be placed on probation.

3. "Accredited, on probation" is considered by the CoA to be an adverse action. It designates an accredited program which, in the professional judgment of the CoA, is not currently consistent with the G&P. Programs on probation will be given a time certain by which they must remedy identified deficiencies. The intent of this category is to inform the public that the program has issues that need to be addressed.

4. "Revocation of accreditation" is considered by the CoA to be an adverse action. It designates a program that has previously been on "accredited, on probation" status for which the CoA has evidence that the program continues to be inconsistent with the G&P. This decision reflects the CoA's determination that the program will not become consistent with the G&P within a foreseeable time.

5. "Denial of accreditation" is considered by the CoA to be an adverse action. It designates an applicant program for which the CoA has evidence that the program is inconsistent with the G&P.

6. "Denial of a site visit" is considered by the CoA to be an adverse action. It designates and applicant program which, in the professional judgment of the CoA, is not ready for a site visit.