Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®)
6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929
Phone: (301) 652-2682 • Email: accred@aota.org
Dear Prospective Applicant:
This is to provide information regarding the accreditation process for developing occupational
therapy educational programs and its impact on students enrolled in these programs. Universities
and colleges generally contact the Accreditation Department at AOTA headquarters early in their
consideration of initiating an OT or OTA educational program. The accreditation process, which
takes approximately two years, is designed to start before the first class of students enters the
program and completed before the first class graduates from the program.
An occupational therapy or occupational therapy assistant program must be accredited by the
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) prior to students’
graduation in order for those graduates to be eligible to sit for the national certification
examination offered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
(NBCOT®). Therefore, students who enter developing programs are taking a risk that the program
will not obtain accreditation and therefore, they will not be eligible to sit for the NBCOT®
certification exam.
Any program submitting a Letter of Intent to seek ACOTE accreditation must obtain “Candidacy
Status” by submitting a Candidacy Application describing how the program plans to demonstrate
compliance with the ACOTE Accreditation Standards prior to the admission of the first class of
students into the program. (See ACOTE Policy III.A.1. Step One: The Application Review). If the
program obtains Candidacy Status, the next step is to enter into the “Preaccreditation Review
Process” and continue through the accreditation process.
It is suggested that you speak with the director of any new program that you are interested in
attending regarding the accreditation status of the program. If the program has applied to seek
accreditation, the program director will receive a tentative schedule of the accreditation process
which delineates a sequence of required steps the program must complete before accreditation is
granted.
You may ask the program director where the program is in the initial accreditation process and
specifically whether the program has received Candidacy Status (if it is early in the process) or
whether the program has received Preaccreditation Status (if it is midway through the process).
Preaccreditation Status is used by ACOTE to provide feedback to a developing program prior to the
initial on-site evaluation. The granting of Preaccreditation Status indicates that, on the basis of
examination of the Initial Report of Self-Study and supplementary information available to the
review team, ACOTE has determined that the program is likely to meet the ACOTE Standards if fully
implemented in accordance with its plans. This is intended to provide an indication that program
planning appears to be proceeding in a direction that will lead toward ACOTE accreditation. (See
ACOTE Policy III.A.2. Step Two: Preaccreditation Review).
If you are uncomfortable with the risk involved in entering a developing program, it may be better
for you to pursue one that is already accredited. However, the accreditation process is designed to
facilitate development and substantial support is provided to the program during the process.
Please feel free to contact the AOTA Accreditation Department at accred@aota.org if you have
additional questions. Best wishes in your pursuit of an occupational therapy or occupational
therapy assistant degree!
