Use of New Standards

If a program applies under the 2016 Standards but doesn’t get a decision until July 2026, under which Standards will the citations be?

If a program submits a SSR based on the 2016 standards, it will be reviewed based on those standards and the citations will be based on the 2016 Standards. 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.

Because there is not a one-to-one correspondence of 2016 to 2024 Standards, CACREP would identify which 2024 Standards should be addressed in progress reports that would potentially be submitted after July 1, 2026.

Can my program submit our SSR based on the 2016 Standards?

If you plan to submit your SSR based on the 2016 Standards, you must submit it on or before June 30, 2024.

Our program cycle end date is October 31, 2025, which set of standards should we use?

Your program may choose to submit the SSR based on either the 2016 or 2024 Standards. However, if you choose to submit your SSR based on the 2016 Standards, it must be submitted on or before June 30, 2024. If you choose to submit your SSR based on the 2024 Standards, it must be submitted on or after July 1, 2024.

If our program cycle end date is October 31, 2025 and we want to use the 2016 Standards, what is the submission deadline?

If your program chooses to submit the SSR based on the 2016 Standards, it must be submitted on or before June 30, 2024.

If our program cycle end date is October 31, 2025 and we want to use the 2024 Standards, what is the submission deadline?

If your program chooses to submit the SSR based on the 2024 Standards, it must be submitted on or after July 1, 2024.

Does our program need to let CACREP know in advance if we are writing our SSR based on the 2016 or 2024 standards?

Generally, no.

The date of your submission will determine the standards that you must use. Or, conversely, the standards that you use will determine when you must submit your SSR:

SSRs based on 2016 Standards, must be submitted on or before June 30, 2024 and will no longer be accepted as of July 1, 2024.
SSRs based on 2024 Standards must be submitted on or after July 1, 2024 and will not be accepted earlier than that date.

There is a special case where programs would let CACREP know in advance that they are writing an SSR based on the 2024 Standards. If your program’s target date to submit your SSR is either July 2023 or January 2024, but you wish to submit your SSR based on the 2024 Standards, you must submit a request for an extension of your current accreditation cycle using this form. The form 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].

If my program is accredited based on the 2016 Standards and has a progress report due after July 1, 2026 should my progress report be based on the 2016 or 2024 Standards?

As indicated in the policy, “all reports submitted on or after the two-year transition period must address the new standards.” So, if you submit a report after July 1, 2026, it must address the 2024 Standards.

What if my program is cited on a 2016 Standard that is not included in the 2024 Standards. Do I still need to respond to it after July 1, 2026?

Because there is not a one-to-one correspondence of 2016 to 2024 Standards, CACREP would identify which (if any) 2024 Standards should be addressed in reports where (a) a program was cited on 2016 Standards and (b) the program would potentially be responding after July 1, 2026.

So, all programs must come into compliance with the 2024 CACREP Standards no later than June 30, 2026. Does that mean we will need to provide a new SSR or other report to show how we comply?

Programs will not be required to submit a special report to show compliance with the 2024 Standards. However, from July 1, 2026 forward, all on-going reporting (including Progress Reports, Midcycle or other monitoring reports, etc.) must be based on and show compliance with the 2024 Standards that are relevant to the specific report being submitted.