Programmatic Accreditation

The US Department of Education defines programmatic accreditation (also called specialized accreditation or discipline-specific accreditation) as an “accreditation that normally applies to programs, departments, or schools that are parts of an institution. The accredited unit may be as large as a college or school within a university or as small as a curriculum within a discipline. Programmatic accreditation occurs separately from institutional accreditation and is important to both students and employers as it is essential in many degrees that lead to an occupational license.”

Review Process

Units must consult with Academic Program Quality (APQ) prior to submitting initial applications, self-studies, substantial change reports, or other formal correspondence to accrediting agencies. APQ reviews these materials to ensure that the university’s mission, policies, and procedures, among other areas, are accurately and consistently represented.

APQ also schedules on-site visit meetings that require the president, provost, or deans of the College of Graduate Studies and the College of Undergraduate Studies. Resources related to APQ’s review and scheduling site visits are below.

Resource Guide for Programmatic Accreditation

APQ’s Resource Guide for Programmatic Accreditation is produced to assist departments, schools, and colleges in preparing self-studies and drafting reports required by programmatic accrediting bodies, as well as discussing the University of Florida’s accreditation status and practices of common interest to such entities.

Communicating with APQ

APQ’s expectations for programs initiating accreditation or undergoing an accreditation review

Site-Visit Planning Requirements

Planning materials including an executive summary of the program(s) under review, bios of the review team, and an itinerary of the site visit, must be submitted to APQ two weeks prior to the site visit start date. These materials will be given to the president and provost to prepare them for meetings with the review team.

Reporting Obligations

UCF is required to report to its institutional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and to all of its accrediting bodies recognized by the US Department of Education, any change in the accreditation status of a program, department, school, or college. These changes include being denied accreditation or candidacy, having accreditation suspended or terminated, being placed on monitoring or reporting, or the unit choosing to withdraw from an accreditation agency or from candidacy.

APQ also reports annually to the Florida Board of Governors on the status for each of the university’s academic programs that are accredited. Thus, it is important that entities within the university that hold programmatic accreditation, or are planning to apply for programmatic accreditation, communicate with APQ throughout the application and review processes.

Accrediting Decisions of Other Agencies

SACSCOC policy on reporting any change in the accreditation status of a program, department, school, or college

3.006 Accreditation

Florida Board of Governors regulation on accreditation, including discipline-specific accreditation

Inventories

APQ maintains inventories of UCF programs approved by the Florida Department of Education and those programs that hold programmatic accreditation.

Inventory and Review Schedule of UCF Programs State-Approved by Florida Department of Education
Programs that are state-approved by the Florida Department of Education

Inventory and Review Schedule of UCF Programs with Programmatic Accreditation

The following academic programs at UCF hold programmatic accreditation:

Accrediting Agency	Program
accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org	Computer Science (BS) Information Technology (BS)
accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org	Aerospace Engineering (BSAE) Civil Engineering (BSCE) Computer Engineering (BSCpE) Construction Engineering (BSConE) Electrical Engineering (BSEE) Environmental Engineering (BSVE) Industrial Engineering (BSIE) Mechanical Engineering (BSME) Photonic Science and Engineering (BSPSE)
American Chemical Society (ACS)	Chemistry (BS)
American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA)*	Psychology (PhD) – Clinical
Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA)*	Communication Sciences and Disorders (MA)
Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA)	Health Services Administration (BS)
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)	Accounting (BSBA, MSA) Business Administration (MBA, PhD) Business Economics (BSBA) Economics (BS, MS) Finance (BSBA) Integrated Business (BSBA) Management (BSBA, MSM) Marketing (BSBA) Real Estate (BSBA, MSRE) Sport Business Management (MSBM)
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)	Master of Athletic Training (MAT)
Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)	Health Informatics and Information Management (BS) Health Care Informatics (PSM) – Professional Science Master’s
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)	Health Administration (MHA)
Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE)*	Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)*	Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Nursing (BSN, MSN)
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)	Counselor Education (MA, MEd) Education (PhD) – Counselor Education Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy (MA)
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)	Social Work (BSW, MSW)
Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC)	Forensic Science (BS)
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)	Psychology (PhD) – Human Factors & Cognitive Psychology
Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)*	Doctor of Medicine (MD)
National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)	Medical Laboratory Sciences (BS)
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)	School Psychology (EdS)
National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)*	Music (BA, MA) Music Education (BME) Music Performance (BM)
National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST)*	Theatre (BFA, MA, MFA) Theatre Studies (BA)
National Committee for the Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE)	Kinesiology (BS) – Sport and Athletic Coaching (formerly Sport and Exercise Science (BS) – Coaching)
Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)	Master of Public Administration (MPA) Master of Nonprofit Management (MNM)
Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)	Urban and Regional Planning (MS)

*Accrediting agency is recognized by the US Department of Education

Contacts

Please see APQ’s Institutional Accreditation webpage for information on UCF’s institutional accreditation.