Programs’ pass rates are reviewed twice per year, with half of all accredited programs’ National Certification Examination pass rate data reviewed at the COA’s Spring Meeting, and the other half reviewed at the COA’s Fall Meeting. If a program fails to meet the COA’s pass rate requirement (i.e., 80%) using any of the three methods established in the “Certification Examination” policy, it will be placed on monitoring. The program will be instructed to submit a status report for review alongside its next graduation cohort’s pass rate data (i.e., one year from the meeting at which it was placed on monitoring). Programs are not considered out of compliance with the accreditation Standards the first time they do not meet the pass rate requirement.
If a program that is already on monitoring fails to meet the pass rate requirement for a second time, it will not only remain on monitoring but also be considered out of compliance with Standard I, Criterion A11 and Standard III, Criterion C21c8 of the master’s Standards or Standard A.12 and Standard D.24 of the practice doctorate Standards. In accordance with the COA’s “Deadline for Compliance with the Standards and Criteria of the Council on Accreditation” policy, programs that have been notified by the COA of non-compliance with the Standards have a maximum of two years in which to comply with the COA’s requirements. An adverse accreditation decision for revocation will be made at the end of the two-year deadline, though programs can request a one-year extension for good cause.
The monitoring period shall not exceed five years from the date a program is placed on monitoring. A program will be removed from monitoring as soon as it meets or exceed the COA’s pass rate requirement for two consecutive years. Sample flowcharts demonstrating the possible outcomes of the monitoring process are available in the COAccess Reference Library.
