APA Services submitted public comments on the Department of Education’s proposed revisions to federal recognition rules for institutional and programmatic accrediting agencies (PDF, 312KB)opens in new window, including APA’s Commission on Accreditation. The comments voiced support for efforts to improve quality assurance, affordability, independence, and innovation, but cautioned that several provisions could weaken central strengths of the American voluntary accreditation system, including expert peer review and field-specific expertise.
APA Services emphasized accreditation’s role in protecting the public and ensuring psychology programs prepare graduates for ethical, competent practice, and warned that making programmatic accreditation less stable, less discipline-specific, or less reliant on expert peer review could create uncertainty for students and programs about accreditation status, internship eligibility, licensure preparation, and workforce pathways. Additionally, the association warned that the proposal could jeopardize federal workforce-development programs that expand behavioral health access in rural, frontier, youth-serving, veteran-serving, and other underserved communities.
APA Services urged the department to preserve peer review as a foundation of high-quality programmatic accreditation and to allow accreditors to consider input from related professional associations, as long as accreditors retain final authority over standards, policies, and accreditation decisions.