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Accreditation with a Professional Education Accrediting Association that is Seeking Recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the United States Department of Education (USDE)

To:

Deans/Directors of Institutions Offering Educator Preparation Programs
Other Interested Parties

From: John L. D’Agati, Deputy Commissioner of Office of Higher Education
Date:

May 9, 2018

Subject: Accreditation with a Professional Education Accrediting Association that is Seeking Recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the United States Department of Education (USDE) pdf file (90KB)

At its May meeting, the Board of Regents adopted a regulation amendment that allows institutions that are currently accredited by NCATE, TEAC, or CAEP to pursue accreditation through an accrediting association that is seeking recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the United States Department of Education (USDE) and still meet the “continuous accreditation requirement” set forth in Section 52.21 of the Commissioner’s Regulations. The full text of the proposed amendment is available online at http://www.regents.nysed.gov/common/regents/files/518brca5.pdf pdf file.

The Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) is currently seeking recognition from CHEA. Therefore, institutions may now choose to pursue accreditation through CAEP or AAQEP.

Institutions that choose to work with an accrediting association seeking USDE or CHEA recognition must notify the Department prior to the expiration date of their current accreditation period using the form provided on the Office of College and University Evaluation website at: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/ocue/accred/Edprogramaccred.html. Institutions must also provide satisfactory evidence that they are pursuing accreditation through an accrediting association seeking USDE or CHEA recognition. In the case of AAQEP, they need to submit a copy of the membership confirmation letter along with the notification form.

Institutions must successfully complete the accreditation process with the accrediting association seeking CHEA or USDE recognition within five years of the date of the notification to the Department to ensure that its programs are considered continuously accredited. If, at any time during the accreditation process, the professional education accrediting association determines that the institution’s program or programs cannot be accredited by such association and/or that the institution has not diligently pursued an application for accreditation, the institution’s program or programs shall not be considered to be continuously accredited as required by Commissioner’s Regulations Section 52.21.

In the event that an accrediting association seeking CHEA or USDE recognition is denied such recognition, institutions that can document they were in the process of pursuing accreditation with such association would be held harmless and the Department would work with the institution on a timeline for earning accreditation through CAEP.

Last Updated: May 10, 2018