Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)

Accreditation Council for pharmacy education is an accrediting organization which accredits and pre accredits programs related to pharmacy education. It is a national, non-profit accreditation agency recognized by USDE and CHEA. It works to promote excellence in the educational training provided by colleges and schools. 

It is also known as ACPE and was established in the year 1932.

Formerly named as American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, the council of accreditation was changed to Accrediting Council for Pharmacy Education in the year 2003.

The mission of ACPE is to represent and maintain the quality of Pharmacy universities and colleges.

International services program (ISP’s) was founded in February 2011 to assure the advanced levels of pharmacy courses and education. 

source - adobestock

---

Eligibility requirements for ACPE accreditation 

ACPE lays down 25 standards of accreditation which should be met in order to receive accreditation. In case all 25 are not met, it awards pre-accreditation to those programs which are working towards improving their standards to receive full accreditation status. 

The eligibility requirements for ACPE accreditation is given.

• It has to be an independent autonomous educational unit within a university having regular academic sessions.

• The administrative structure of the college must have a dean who serves as the academic head of the staff.

• The institution must have the authority to conduct post-secondary educational programs in the state.

• It has not been rejected by any national or regional agency for accreditation. 

• There has been no probation or similar action imposed by a recognized agency.

• The head of staff or the head of the school needs to send an invitation to ACPE to conduct the process of accreditation. 

---

Process of ACPE Accreditation

The process of ACPE accreditation starts with the submission of a self-study report according to the guidelines set by the agency. It needs to include the required documentation as per norms and qualitative and quantitative assessments of the pharmacy and training programs. 

The procedure followed to grant accreditation is as follows.

• Third Party Reviews - Before the onsite evaluation, third parties are allowed to send reviews about the qualifications related to accreditation.

• On-site evaluation - The self-study report and other reviews are independently distributed to ACPE members for analyzing the qualifications for accreditation prior to the visit.

• Evaluation report - After the onsite visit, an evaluation report is made to assess the different aspects of the program and describes how well it performs with respect to the standards laid down by the agency.

• Accreditation actions - Self-study report, ETR,  communications received from the educational body and the invitation by the head of the college to ACPE determines the compliance of the program with the standards which leads to accreditation actions taken by ACPE.

• Annual reports to be sent during the accreditation term - Before the accreditation status is granted, the institution has to submit annual reports stating the different qualitative aspects of the program. After multiple annual reports sent after the on-site visit, the final decision is taken by the ACPE members whether to grant the accreditation or not. 

source - acpe.org 

---

Guiding values of ACPE

The ACPE requires the institution to follow certain principles and imbibe values before providing accreditation. 

Their utmost mission is to ensure that educational training given to students is on par to the quality required in pharmacy professionals. To achieve this, they adhere to the following principles.

• Accrediting educational bodies which are following its established standards

• Changing its guidelines to improve the quality of pharmacy education

• Promoting innovation in pharmacy education

• Consulting other educational member bodies and experienced professionals to alter the standards and guidelines

• Manage its resources and make the process as transparent as possible 

---

List of Colleges and Schools accredited by ACPE

The ACPE accredits only those education and training programs that offer the Doctor Of Pharmacy degree. 

Here is a list of few colleges and schools that are accredited by ACPE.

List of ACPE accredited schools and colleges
California NorthState University College of Pharmacy	Chicago State University College of Pharmacy
Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	Howard University College of Pharmacy
Pacific University School of Pharmacy	The University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy

source - adobestock

---

Conclusion

ACPE works towards providing better health care and medical aid to all. To achieve this, it strives to constantly improve the educational quality in these study areas. Along with many professionals and other educational bodies, it has tried to uplift the quality of training imparted to pharmacy professionals.

It is thus an assurance to students and the public that the program offers quality learning and skills to pursue a professional career in pharmacy and medicine.

---

Blogs you might be interested in 

• American Library Association Committee on Accreditation (ALA)
  
• Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
  
• American Physical Therapy Association Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE)