Use of New Standards Announcement

The policy regarding the use of new standards has been revised as follows:

 Use of New Standards. When CACREP implements new or revised standards, programs submitting applications for accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation on or after the effective date of the new standards must demonstrate compliance with the new standards.

 All programs currently accredited must come into compliance with the new standards within two years of the effective date of the new standards. All reports submitted on or after the two-year transition period must be based on the new standards. CACREP will conduct all reviews and make all accreditation and monitoring decisions based on the new standards following completion of the two-year transition period.

Programs submitting reports in the interim during the two-year transition period may elect to submit reports under either set of standards, unless otherwise directed. All reviews and decisions following the two-year transition period will be based on the new standards.  

The 2024 CACREP Standards will go into effect on July 1, 2024. All self-study reports (SSR) submitted on and after this date must be based on this new set of standards. All programs accredited based on the 2016 CACREP Standards or a prior set of standards, must come into compliance with the 2024 CACREP Standards no later than June 30, 2026.

Beginning July 1, 2026, all required reports submitted must be based on the 2024 CACREP Standards regardless of the set of standards under which the program was granted its current accreditation. Board reviews and accreditation and monitoring decisions will be based on the 2024 Standards.

Programs with cycle end dates of October 31, 2024, and March 31, 2025, are eligible to submit a request to the CACREP Board for an extension of your current grant of accreditation to allow you to submit your SSR under the 2024 CACREP Standards. All extension requests must be submitted no later than Friday September 29, 2023. It should be submitted via CACREP’s Report Submissions portal and the completed form should have a filename in the form of Institution name -Extension request to apply based on 2024 Standards [Alpha University – Extension request to apply based on 2024 Standards].

Programs are not eligible to request an extension of accredited status to apply under the 2024 Standards if they have already requested and received an extension of accredited status in the current accreditation cycle.

Programs with a cycle end date of October 31, 2025, may choose to submit the SSR under either the 2016 or 2024 Standards. The deadline for submission based on each set of standards is different – applications using the 2016 Standards MUST be submitted on or before June 30, 2024, and applications using the 2024 Standards MUST be submitted on or after July 1, 2024.