APA-CoA- American Psychological Association Commission on

What is APA-CoA?

Have you heard of the American Psychological Association? If not, then the answer lies here.

The APA is an organization that works towards advancement in Psychology and how it can be used for the betterment of individuals and society. 

The accreditation body associated with APA called the APA-CoA is the national accrediting agency which accredits Doctoral and training programs in professional psychology.

APA-COA is recognized by both the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. 

source  - apa.org 

APA-COA accreditation scope

APA-COA does not approve Bachelor’s or Master’s programs in professional psychology. However, it provides accreditation to Doctoral level programs. 

It provides programmatic accreditation as it does not accredit the entire university or college, but just the programs. Let us have a look at the degree levels and programs which fall under the scope of APA.

• Doctoral graduate programs - Accreditation to Doctoral programs in Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology or a combination of any of these is provided. 

• Internship programs - Pre-doctoral internship programs in Professional Psychology, for instance, Health Service Psychology are accredited.

• Post-doctoral residency programs - Health Service Psychology programs that offer specialized and training and education in this field are accredited by APA.

Eligibility requirements for APA-COA accreditation

In order to receive accreditation, the programs must be offered for doctoral education and training of psychologists and the program’s standards must be within the accrediting agency’s scope.

• The program should fall under the scope of APA accreditation.

• The programs in Professional Psychology must comply with the standards laid down by the Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology (SoA).

• They should provide a broad and general training in Scientific Psychology and prepare students to practice the same.

• The programs should be offered by a foundation that is broadly or territorially licensed by an authorizing office in the United States. 

source - pixabay.com

How does a program become accredited?

APA accreditation is voluntary which means that the programs that wish to receive accreditation must apply for the same. The accreditation process is entirely confidential and only the results are made available to the public.

The accreditation process is as follows.

The university needs to submit a self-study for the program to be accredited via the online Commission on Accreditation (CoA) portal. In order to submit the application, a certain amount of fee is to be paid depending upon the degree level of the program.

This self-study then undergoes an initial review and the outcome of the review has two possibilities - either approval of site-visit or denial of site-visit.

The site visit team visits the site and forwards the report to the CoA. The institute is required to pay for the visit expenses. 

The CoA evaluates whether the program is in compliance with the standards of Health Service Psychology (SoA).

It then awards accreditation if and only, if all standards and requirements are met. 

Application fees for APA-COA accreditation

The appropriate fee must be paid by the programs when they submit the application to apply for accreditation. Following is the fee schedule effective for applications/self-studies submitted on or after Jan. 1, 2017.

Guiding principles of APA-COA

APA endeavors to correspond and use psychological information to society's profit. Few guiding principles of the accreditation commission are given.

• Enhancing the improvement and applying the information of psychology in the broadest way possible to benefit the lives of the general public.

• Promoting the expansion of research in Psychology and developing enhanced methods for research.

• Enhancing the instructive capabilities of clinicians and setting measures of morals, direct training, and accomplishment.

APA-COA accredited universities

You must always pursue a degree or a program which is accredited because it is a guarantee of quality education.

Some of the universities which offer APA accredited programs in Professional Psychology are given.

Conclusion

American psychologist Association Commission provides accreditations to psychology programs that meet the standards and requirements set by the APA.

It strives to impart the knowledge of psychology worldwide and to raise the education standards in the field for the betterment of both individuals and society.