Academic institutions that are developing new AuD programs and have not yet begun recruiting and admitting students may apply for Developing Status with the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE). Developing Status refers to the first stage of appraising the quality of academic programs in development. These are programs that have already attained recognition by their academic institutions.
The Board of Directors of the ACAE awards Developing Status to programs that demonstrate the potential to achieve compliance with the ACAE Standards within 3 and up to a maximum of 5 years. Awarding Developing Status allows an academic program in audiology at the AuD level to begin its program and accept an initial class of students.
Developing Status recognizes that the program is moving in the right direction toward accreditation and will provide additional evidence on its initial outcomes to ACAE on a regular basis. It does not indicate that a program is currently accredited, nor does it guarantee or imply accreditation of that program by the ACAE in the future.
The ACAE Board of Directors has approved a streamlined plan that is straightforward and requires responses to questions that determine if a potential program is headed in the right direction for providing an academic audiology program at the doctoral level, i.e., AuD. The developing program must be approved by the ACAE Board before the program admits its first class of students.
This page outlines the following steps from section 5 and section 6 of the ACAE Accreditation Manual for programs seeking Developing Status. Whereas adherence to the ACAE Accreditation Standards is not required in the Developing Status process, they may be referenced here.
Eligibility for New AuD Programs Seeking Developing Status
ACAE will consider any new AuD program for Developing Status as long as the program’s host institution is not subject to
- A pending or final action by a state agency to suspend, revoke, withdraw, or terminate the institution’s legal authority to provide post-secondary education;
- A pending or final action brought by an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to suspend, revoke, withdraw, or terminate the institution’s accreditation or pre-accreditation; or
- A pending or final action brought by an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to place the institution on probation or an equivalent status unless there is good cause, consistent with ACAE’s Standards, to grant accreditation.
Requirements for New AuD Programs Seeking Developing Status
- Submit an online expression of interest form here.
- Submit responses to an online Developing Status application form.
- Submit a letter of intent signed by the appropriate institutional administrator responsible for overseeing the audiology program and the program director if already designated through a document upload in the expression of interest form. The letter of intent must be brief, but must include the following:
- A declaration of intent of the institution to develop and seek accreditation for the AuD program.
- A statement that the institution agrees not to admit students into the AuD program until after the Developing Status for the program is approved.
- The month and year the first class is projected to enter the program (after the Developing Status for the Program is approved).
- The month and year of the first class is projected to graduate. Note: The process for completing the Developing Status for Programs and the Accreditation may take two years or longer. Programs are advised to develop a timeline to allow completion of the entire accreditation process before graduation of the first class.
- Submit a copy of the feasibility study/plan/application that was presented to the university and/or state. This will include preliminary steps that show progress on hiring a Program Director, the vision for the development of the curriculum and development of a vision for potential faculty, including clinical instructors.
- Fees – See Fee Schedule for Developing Status programs below.
Developing Status Fees
Developing status fees include a non-refundable deposit, application fee, and site visit fee.
| Non-Refundable Deposit Submitted with Letter of Intent |
$2,000 |
| Plan Fee Submitted with copy of Feasibility Plan |
$3,000 |
| Fact-Finding Visit Due prior to the Fact-Finding Visit |
$3,500 |
| Total Fee: | $8,500 |
Steps Following Completion of Initial Application
- The ACAE Board of Directors appoints a Review Team made up of two trained site visitors to study the application and supporting documents and follow-up with questions to the program.
- The Review Team conducts a Fact-Finding visit. This site visit takes place over one day at the academic institution. The purpose of this Fact-Finding visit is to review previously submitted documents and to discuss, in an informal manner, key topic areas that are important to achieve ACAE accreditation.
- The ACAE Board of Directors reviews the report and recommendation of the Review Team and votes to award or not award Developing Status. The decision will be based on whether the quality and depth of materials submitted provided enough information to determine if the program is on-track to achieve eventual full program accreditation. If the ACAE Board does not award Developing Status, it will offer two options to the program:
- To submit a second updated and revised Copy of the Feasibility Plan after a period of time (to be determined by the Program/University and ACAE)
- To discontinue the process by either the Program/University or the ACAE Board
After a decision is made by the ACAE Board, the program will be notified in writing within two weeks. It is anticipated that the entire process of awarding Developing Status will take no more than six to eight months.
Steps Following Award of Developing Status
- The program will submit to the ACAE Board an online progress report every four (4) months until the first class of students is enrolled.
- Once the first class of students is enrolled, the program will submit an online progress report every six (6) months in January and July.
- It is expected that the program will begin the application process for ACAE Accreditation by the beginning of the final year of full-time clinical instruction (externship) for the first class of students so that a decision on accreditation can be made before graduation of this first class. Review the Accreditation Application Process here.
Have Questions?
If you have any questions about the Developing Status process, please fill out the form below and a staff member will get back to you.