Accreditation

Northern Arizona University is proud to have an accredited College of Education

In addition to the accreditation NAU receives from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the College of Education is pleased to share that our department and programs are also accredited by several other agencies.

The HLC’s most recent report on NAU was released in March 2014 and is valid for 10 years.

American Psychological Association (APA)

The NAU Combined Counseling/School Psychology PhD Program was previously on “accredited, on contingency” status with an initial accreditation date of April 6, 2017.  At its spring 2022 meeting, the APA Commission on Accreditation (CoA) voted to approve full accreditation of the doctoral Counseling/School PhD program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, with its next site visit scheduled in 2031.

The APA Commission on Accreditation (CoA) has issued a Notice of Actions indicating that the NAU Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) has been granted initial accreditation, on contingency. According to the CoA Accreditation Operating Procedures, “‘accredited, on contingency’ is granted to a doctoral program when the program demonstrates initial evidence of educational quality consistent with the SoA (Standards of Accreditation) and the capacity to meet all accreditation standards in the designated time frame. Review for this status requires matriculation of students, clinical evaluations of students in practicum, evidence of the integration of science and practice, and significant resource allocation.”

Students who complete a program that is recognized as “accredited, on contingency” effective before their graduation date will have completed an APA-accredited program. Accreditation is effective from the last date of the site visit, February 25, 2022. The CoA will conduct its next review of the NAU program in 2025, at which time the program will be considered for full accreditation status.

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)

More than 23 education programs across four colleges at Northern Arizona University have been nationally accredited through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)—making NAU one of 471 providers from 36 states to be honored with this distinction. In fall 2017, the NAU College of Education received notice from the CAEP Board that all bids for re-accreditation were accepted with no stipulations.

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

The programs in Northern Arizona University’s Department of Educational Psychology have received full approval from the National Association of School Psychologists. The department, which is home to master’s and PhD programs in school psychology, earned accreditation without any provisions through August 1, 2028.

Council for Accreditation and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)

Our MEd School Counseling and MA Counseling programs were first accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in 1998. These programs have maintained continuous accreditation status, which is valid through October 31, 2024.