The CAA maintains an established fee schedule to support the operations of the accreditation program for applicant, candidate, and accredited graduate education programs. Application fees must be submitted at the time of application (payable to ASHA). Invoices for candidacy and initial accreditation site visits are sent at the time the site visit has been confirmed and are payable upon receipt. Annual fees are set on a calendar fiscal year and CAA-accredited and candidate programs are invoiced accordingly. The CAA reserves the right to collect all outstanding fees in the event the program has not been billed during the applicant, candidacy, and accreditation processes, as outlined in the Accreditation Handbook.
Renewal of accreditation status is dependent upon timely payment of annual accreditation fees by programs.
The CAA’s accreditation activities are funded by fees assessed to programs and by a subsidy from ASHA. In accordance with its policies and procedures (Accreditation Handbook, p.45), the CAA conducts a comprehensive review of its accreditation fee structure and budget planning over a 3– to 4–year horizon to ensure the adequacy of its funding and that CAA maintains its fiscal agreement with ASHA. As part of this process, if fee increases are recommended, the CAA provides opportunity for comment before approval and implementation.
In 2024, the CAA analysed its accreditation fee structure and budget, and it determined that a flat fee increase was not required for programs with fewer than two satellite locations or for programs not seeking approval for an additional modality. However, to address the rising operational costs of site visits, the analysis concluded that two new fees should be considered as follows:
The CAA is soliciting peer comment to review the proposed new fees until May 1, 2025. The CAA will consider the results of the peer comment at its next meeting in May 2025.
| Category | Date of Last Increase | Current Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee: | ||
| Candidacy | 2015 | $8,000 |
|
Initial Accreditation Substantive Change (Distance Education or Satellite Only) |
2016 2025 Proposed |
$6,000 $0 |
| Site Visit Fee:1 | ||
| Candidacy Site Visit (3 persons; 2 days) |
2023 | $5,082 |
| Initial Accreditation: Single Program (3 persons; 2 days) |
2023 | $5,082 |
| Initial Accreditation: Dual Program [Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology] (4 persons; 2 days) |
2023 | $6,776 |
| Annual Fee:2 | ||
| Single Program: 8-year Cycle |
2023 | $2,311 |
| Single Program: 5-year Cycle |
2023 | $2,674 |
| Dual Programs3 [Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology]: 8-year Cycle |
2023 | $3,467 |
| Dual Programs4 [Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology]: 5-year Cycle |
2023 | $4,010 |
| Candidacy Program5 | 2023 | $2,674 |
| Program With Approved Satellite/Branch Campus Distance Education Component or Contractual Arrangement |
2025 Proposed | Residential fee above + $484 for each additional modality/component for each professional area |
| Notice of Intent Fee: | 2022 | $2,000 |
1 Current fee based on $1,694 per person per visit beginning in 2023. If additional days or members are required, site visit fee will be adjusted accordingly. If additional site visits are required outside the routine accreditation, reaccreditation, or candidacy reviews, programs will be assessed an additional site visit fee.
2 Includes reaccreditation site visit fee, prorated over the 5- or 8-year accreditation cycle.
3 Includes costs for additional site visit team member.
4 Includes costs for additional site visit team member. Institutions that have accredited programs in audiology and speech-language pathology with different accreditation cycles (e.g., 8 years and 5 years) will be charged the annual fee for the shorter cycle; this policy has been in effect since January 1, 2007.
5 Candidacy annual fee does not include site visit fees; site visit fees are invoiced separately.