Standards Compliance Trends — 2022 Summary

In 2022, the CAA completed 76 accreditation application reviews of graduate academic programs (13 clinical doctoral programs in audiology, 63 master’s programs in speech-language pathology). This total includes 15 reviews of applications for candidacy and 3 substantive changes.

The CAA also reviewed annual reports from 241 graduate academic programs (55 clinical doctoral programs in audiology, 186 masters programs in speech-language pathology).

Accreditation Decisions

The CAA’s 2022 accreditation reviews resulted in the following accreditation decisions:

• 36 programs were re-accredited for an 8-year cycle
• 7 programs were awarded initial accreditation for a 5-year cycle
• 19 programs were awarded candidacy
• 23 programs were placed on probation
• 21 programs were removed from probation and accreditation was continued
• 3 substantive changes were approved
• 265 programs were approved for continued accreditation on the basis of an annual report review

Accreditation status decisions (e.g., award accreditation, place on probation) are made public in accordance with the CAA’s Public Notice of Accreditation Actions policy. CAA’s policy and descriptions of those decisions can be found in the Accreditation Handbook—Chapter XII: Informing the Public.

Most Frequently Cited Standards

Initial and Continued Accreditation Application Reviews

The areas (2017 standards) the CAA most frequently cited for program noncompliance in 2022 as the result of initial and re-accreditation application reviews included:

• The program develops and implements a long-term strategic plan (Standard 1.5);
• Current, accurate, and readily available public information about the program and/or institution, including accurate student outcome measures, accreditation statement, and other program information (Standard 1.9);
• Faculty members are qualified and competent by virtue of their education, experience, and professional credentials to provide academic and clinical education; specifically, the majority of academic content is taught by doctoral faculty who hold the appropriate terminal academic degree (PhD, EdD) (Standard 2.3).

Of note, there were 19 graduate academic programs that received no citations (e.g., no areas of noncompliance and no areas for follow-up) as a result of their initial or re-accreditation application reviews in 2022.

Annual Report Reviews

The areas (2017 standards) the CAA most frequently cited for program noncompliance in 2021 as the result of annual report reviews included:

• The program provides information about the program and the institution to students and to the public that is current, accurate, and readily available, including accurate student outcome measures and accreditation statement (Standard 1.9*)
• Faculty members are qualified and competent by virtue of their education, experience, and professional credentials to provide academic and clinical education; specifically, the majority of academic content is taught by doctoral faculty who hold the appropriate terminal academic degree (PhD, EdD) (Standard 2.3).
• The percentage of test-takers who pass the Praxis® Subject Assessments in audiology or speech-language pathology meets or exceeds the CAA’s established threshold (Standard 5.6).

*As in previous years, a large number of programs submitting annual reports for CAA review in 2022 were cited for non-compliance under Standard 1.9. Further, of the citations under Standard 1.9, the majority were for “inaccuracy of accreditation statement” (e.g., not using the CAA-specified language and components). Most of the other citations under this standard were for “incomplete and inaccurate student achievement data” (e.g., missing the most recently completed academic year’s data or outcome data being mis-labeled on the program website). Accreditation staff implemented procedures in spring 2022 to assist programs by incorporating certain requirements for review under Standard 1.9 into the staff review that occurs following a report submission. All programs are now notified multiple times throughout the review process when the accreditation statement or student outcome measures have concerns noted. Staff provide recommendations for the program to update the information displayed in order to address compliance issues with Standard 1.9 prior to the CAA review of the report.

Also of note, there were 162 graduate academic programs that received no citations (e.g., no areas of noncompliance and no areas for follow-up) as a result of their annual report reviews in 2022.