Examining the 2016 CACREP Standards: A National Survey

The U.S Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) both recognize national, regional, and programmatic accreditors across the country. However, there is a lingering question about whether accreditation is linked to the quality of education. In an effort to address this question, we conducted a study to examine the accreditation standards of the Council for Accreditation and Related Educational Program (CACREP). Based on the paucity of existing empirical studies specific to the CACREP accreditation standards, we developed a national survey to gather faculty members’ perceptions of the relevance and clarity of the accreditation standards for counselor education. The results provide insight into the perceptions of educators, directions for future revisions of the accreditation standards, and implications for the counseling profession