Accreditation Renewal
Accreditation status is ongoing during an 8-year period, assuming subsequent Annual Reports are submitted and standards continue to be met.
IACS may change the center’s accreditation status if standards are not met. Every eight years, each center must go through the full accreditation process again, including completing the application and a site visit.
Re-Accreditation Process
On the 8th year after the last accreditation/re-accreditation, each center will complete re-accreditation paperwork and undergo a mandatory field visit. The process involves anywhere from to four to seven peer-reviews, depending on size of the institution and complexity of the counseling center (larger, more complicated centers may require additional reviews).
Centers are placed into the re-accreditation cycle based on their previous accreditation approval. The center will receive re-accreditation materials to complete approxinately one year before the anniversary month/year, in order to allow for the full process to complete prior to their accreditation expiration.
All centers undergoing re-accreditation are given up to four months to submit the completed evaluation materials. Once approved for a site visit, it may take as long as 4-6 months before a site visit is conducted, depending on scheduling coordination betwen the school and the site visitors. After the visit, there is an additional 3 months of reports and reviews before re-accreditation is complete.
In the intervening years in-between full re-accreditation, all centers are required to submit an Annual Report to update IACS on their continued adherance to IACS standards.
There are no fees associated with re-accreditation (as of April 2023, this is a new change from previous years).