Process, Timeline & Cost

The Commission established the following deadlines for the 2022-23 cycle which is under Version 6 of the CEP Accreditation Guide:

Friday, October 1, 2021
The pre-application process opens for the 2022-23 cycle.

Friday, December 10, 2021
Deadline to submit a completed pre-application for review.

Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Deadline to submit a completed accreditation application for peer review.

Click here for a detailed timeline. 

The Commission established the following deadlines for the 2023-24 cycle which is under Version 7 of the CEP Accreditation Guide and Version 2 of the CPF Accreditation Guide (will be available at the Accreditation Institute).

Thursday, December 1, 2022
The Letter of Intent of Intent for the 2023-24 cycle.

Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Deadline to submit a completed Letter of Intent for review.

Thursday, June 1, 2023
Deadline to submit a completed accreditation application for peer review.

Click here for a detailed timeline. 

A concurrent enrollment program is eligible to apply for NACEP accreditation if it meets the following minimum criteria:

• Is a Post-secondary Institutional Member of NACEP in good standing. concurrent enrollment programs that are not currently members of NACEP must also complete a New Member Application.
• Is operated by an institution of higher education accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized Regional Institutional Accrediting Agency.
• Is operated by an institution authorized or licensed by the state agency for higher education in any state or country where it offers concurrent enrollment.
• Has continuously offered NACEP-defined concurrent enrollment courses for at least three consecutive school years.
• Has implemented the policies and procedures described in all NACEP standards prior to applying.
• Can submit documentation that the practices described in the standards were in place during the preceding school year.
• Can submit completed program evaluation reports for each survey type identified in the Evaluation Standards.

Typically a concurrent enrollment program has been in programmatic self-study review for at least one year prior to applying.

NACEP accreditation is valid for 5 years for initial accreditation and then 7 years for re-accreditation; concurrent enrollment programs must apply for NACEP re-accreditation 4 years after their initial accreditation in order to maintain continuous accreditation.

To remain an accredited program during this period, programs must be postsecondary members of NACEP in good standing, pay annual fees required of accredited programs, and continue to implement policies and follow practices that meet NACEP standards.

As outlined in the NACEP Policy and Procedures Manual, to maintain NACEP accreditation a program must:

1. Be a NACEP postsecondary member in good standing
2. Pay annual accreditation fees
3. Continue to implement policies and follow practices that meet NACEP endorsement standards
4. Abide by NACEP membership maintenance requirements including Annual Report submission and volunteer support

The accreditation process includes six main steps:

1. Complete a Self Study
2. Attend an Accreditation Institute
3. File Letter of Intent and Undergo Candidacy Review
4. Prepare and Submit a Completed Accreditation Application
5. Peer Review Process
6. Host a Site Visit

Accreditation Application Fees

• Letter of Intent: $200
  If given a required Accreditation Advisor, there is an additional $750 service fee
• Application Processing Fee for one endorsement: $500
• Additional endorsement: $100

Before submitting the Letter of Intent a college must join NACEP as a postsecondary institutional member. Annual postsecondary membership fees are $560. An accredited concurrent enrollment program must remain a postsecondary member in good standing to maintain their accredited status. Accredited programs pay an Annual Accreditation Fee of $250 per year, on top of membership fees. Learn more here. 

Concurrent Enrollment Program Self Study—begins one to two years prior to submitting an application

A concurrent enrollment program seeking NACEP initial or renewed accreditation should begin a self-study one to two years in advance of submitting an application.

During the self-study, programs typically assemble a team of individuals involved in concurrent enrollment from a variety of perspectives (e.g. program staff, participating faculty, registrar’s office, academic affairs, institutional research, etc).

The self-study team should review the manner in which the program implements all of NACEP’s endorsements standards, develop implementation plans for any standards not yet in place, and identify the evidence and documentation necessary to complete an application.

Visit Member Resources to access NACEP's self-study resources for the CEP and CPF endorsement.

Concurrent enrollment programs seeking NACEP Accreditation must attend an Accreditation Institute within 12 months of submitting a Letter of Intent. Register for an Accreditation Institute

Experienced trainers from leading NACEP-accredited programs will cover the following learning objectives:

• The importance of upholding high standards to ensure the academic integrity of college courses
• Ways to engage faculty and other key stakeholders in implementing quality improvement practices
• The range of practices described by NACEP’s standards
• Strategies for conducting a self-study to align a concurrent enrollment program with NACEP’s national standards
• Types of documentary evidence necessary to assemble an exemplary accreditation application
• How to navigate NACEP’s peer-review program accreditation

Concurrent enrollment programs are encouraged to send a team of representatives, including:

• The college or university’s concurrent enrollment coordinator
• The college or university’s chief academic officer or designee
• College faculty who provide academic oversight over courses offered for concurrent enrollment, and
• Key high school partners, such as a school district superintendent, district or school-based concurrent enrollment coordinator, or high school principal, counselor or instructors

Deadline: Tuesday, January 31 for 2023-2024 Cycle

Click here for the Letter of Intent (available beginning December 1. You will need to log in to your NACEP organization account. Log in and then click the link if it does not show up).

Concurrent enrollment programs seeking NACEP accreditation must complete a Letter of Intent packet the year they plan to submit an accreditation application. Completing the Letter of Intent packet signals to NACEP that a college intends to submit an accreditation application, ensures that NACEP can contact you with important updates about the accreditation process, and triggers a Candidacy Review. Immediately after you file a Letter of Intent packet, an Accreditation Commissioner will conduct a Candidacy Review to determine that your program is ready to submit a complete and well-organized accreditation application. The Commissioner will approve the program’s list of disciplines that are used to organize the application.

The Letter of Intent must be submitted online and includes questions about:

• Institutional characteristics
• Program size
• A list of courses offered for concurrent enrollment, organized by discipline
• Complete a Self Study to gauge your program’s readiness to apply
• Contact information 

You can review the full list of questions in advance, and also save a draft of your work before submitting it. Please consider the list of disciplines carefully as this will be the basis for how your application will be organized. See the discipline list can be found here. Your list of disciplines must be approved by your assigned Commissioner. The Commission may request a different breakdown.

The filing fee for the Letter of Intent is $200, payable online by purchasing/credit card or by check. Letter of Intents must be filed the school year a concurrent enrollment program plans to submit an accreditation application.

A concurrent enrollment program typically takes 4-6 months to prepare an accreditation application. Instructions and forms should be downloaded here. NACEP only accepts electronic applications submitted via NACEP’s secure, password-protected document upload site (instructions will be provided to all applicants). Applications must follow NACEP’s Requirements for Preparing Electronic Accreditation Applications to ensure that the application is well-organized to facilitate peer review. Upon receipt, the program is invoiced an Accreditation Application Fee.

A complete application consists of:

• A program description, including a description of the university or college context within which the program operates
• A complete NACEP coversheet for each standard, explaining how the applicant fulfills the standard and describing the evidence submitted
• Evidence showing the program meets or exceeds each NACEP standard. The evidence includes comprehensive descriptions with contextual detail as well as sample documents illustrating that appropriate processes, policies, and procedures are in place to ensure continued implementation.

Under the guidance of a member of the Accreditation Commission, applications are reviewed by a two to three-person peer review teams who report their findings to the Accreditation Commission.  The Commission votes on all decisions regarding granting or denying accreditation.

Immediately after an application is submitted, an Accreditation Commissioner screens the application for completeness.  If an application is missing only a few pieces of required evidence, they may ask for additional documentation before a Peer Review Team is assigned.  If an application is judged to be incomplete and not ready to be reviewed, it will not be assigned to a Peer Review Team, and the application will be withdrawn from consideration during that review cycle.

Each application is evaluated by a team of two to three peer reviewers from NACEP-Accredited programs. The reviewers are professionals in concurrent enrollment — program directors, faculty liaisons, administrators, high school instructors or other concurrent enrollment staff — and come from outside the state or system seeking accreditation. They thoroughly analyze each application and deliberate through conferencing. Based on their initial review of the application, the Peer Review Team will request clarification and additional documentation.

Commissioners provide ongoing support to peer review teams as they evaluate whether the application includes enough documentation of the type that fulfills the intent of each standard. Because there is great variation in institutional terminology and partnership programming, reviewers may request more information and documentation to clearly understand how a program ensures NACEP standards are met. 

Site Visits are required for all programs for both initial and re-accreditation applicants applying for NACEP accreditation.

Site Visit Protocols:

1. Virtual site visits will convene starting in January and conclude by mid-March.
2. Programs will host a multi-day virtual site visit (based on availability).
3. There will be no cost associated with hosting a virtual site visit. 
4. The Coordinating Commissioner and members of the Review Team will be attending the site visit. 

Key Stakeholders:

• Institution Leadership (managing the concurrent enrollment program)
• Institution Faculty & Staff
• Program Staff
• Concurrent Enrollment Program Teachers or College Provided Faculty
• Concurrent Enrollment Students

Site Visit FAQ,  Sample Agenda, and Key Stakeholder Questions