The CAA is recognized as an accrediting agency for audiology and speech-language pathology graduate education programs by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
Recognition by these agencies is an external validation of the CAA’s adherence to best practices in accreditation.
The CAA and its predecessors have been recognized continuously by CHEA and its predecessors since 1964. CAA’s recognized scope under CHEA is for the accreditation and pre-accreditation (Accreditation Candidate) throughout the United States of education programs in audiology and speech-language pathology leading to the first professional or clinical degree at the master’s or doctoral level, and the accreditation of these programs offered via distance education.
CHEA awarded CAA its maximum 10-year recognition when last reviewed in 2014. The CAA would be scheduled for review in 2024. CHEA implemented new recognition standards in 2019, and the CAA submitted transition reports during 2019-2020 to comply with all reporting requirements to maintain its recognition status. The scope of recognition, as listed above, was approved in March 2014.
The CAA is currently engaged in the CHEA review process. On Monday, March 11, 2024, the CAA will be reviewed during the CHEA Committee on Recognition meeting. In accordance with recognition policies and procedures, CHEA recognition review includes an opportunity for parties independent of the accrediting organization under review to comment on whether the organization meets the CHEA recognition standards. Third-party comment may be either oral (at the meeting, after first being received in writing within the identified time frame) or written and is limited to the accrediting organization's efforts to meet the CHEA recognition standards. This may include commentary from many different sources, such as professional or higher education associations, or other accrediting organizations, institutions, and programs. Submitted comments will assist the CHEA Committee on Recognition as it considers the CAA's application for recognition. For more information, please review the call for third-party comment [PDF] posted on the CHEA website.
The CAA and its predecessors have been recognized continuously by ED since 1967. The CAA’s scope of recognition under ED is for the accreditation and pre-accreditation (Accreditation Candidate) throughout the United States of education programs in audiology and speech-language pathology leading to the first professional or clinical degree at the master’s or doctoral level, and the accreditation of these programs offered via distance education.
The ED recognition also enables CAA-accredited programs to establish eligibility to participate in federal programs authorized under the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools, Section III; and the U.S. Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Health Professions Education Partnership Act of 1998, Public Law 105-392, Sec. 739.
The CAA submitted its petition for continued recognition with the Secretary in February 2020. Representatives of the CAA and Accreditation Staff defended the petition at the March 3–5, 2021 virtual meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Intuitional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). On June 2, 2021, the department announced it had awarded CAA the maximum term of five years for continued recognition with the Secretary.