ACASU accreditation will bring you the following benefits and more:
ACASU developed its standards with the following Lifetime Qualities (expected outcomes) for your students. The accredited schools are expected to adopt ACASU Qualities and embed them in their culture and educational philosophy. We believe that the ACASU Qualities are crucial for lifelong success in any future work.
ACASU Lifetime Qualities include:
ACASU accreditation process has four phases:
Bronze Level: Score 60/100 or higher
Silver Level: Score 75/100 or higher
Gold Level: Score 90/100 or higher
The school submits Letter of Intent to start the process. The Letter of Intent is to provide school profile information and is used to determine whether the application will be accepted, and an Eligibility Site Visit will be scheduled. In some cases, additional clarification and documentation may be required before acceptance.
If the application is accepted, a dedicated web platform will be available for the school. This portal will be used for communication and documentation exchange throughout the accreditation process.
The Eligibility Site Visit is to determine if the school is prepared for the final in-depth Evaluation. The Eligibility Site Visit is carried out by the Commissioner within 6-8 weeks after the Letter of Intent is “accepted” by the Commissioner.
The Eligibility Site Visit shall last two (2) full days. The visit will include a workshop between the Commissioner and the school liaisons to review the accreditation process and the Accreditation Assessment Rubric. Approximately two weeks after the visit the school will engage in in a video-conference call with the Commissioner who will determine if the accreditation process should proceed or if the school is not ready and needs time to prepare. The ruling by the Commissioner cannot be appealed. Regardless, the Commissioner will give the school an overall basic overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the school to facilitate improvement and to review the next steps in the accreditation process.
Schools who are deemed prepared by the Commissioner will move onto the full Evaluation step. Schools deemed unready may wait six (6) months and may repeat the process beginning with a new Letter of Intent. The new Letter of Intent will include specific improvements carried out by the school to ensure a positive outcome by the second Eligibility Site Visit.
The Evaluation Phase will entail the following steps:
Accreditation shall last for six (6) years with annual online reporting, required conference participation, and required fees. School should use this period to improve themselves to receive a higher level of accreditation until they reach Gold Standard by attending our professional development conferences.
ACASU‐accredited institutions submit online annual reports, validating that they continue to be aligned with ACASU Accreditation Standards.
ACASU‐accredited institutions subsequent accreditation cycles encompass only Phase 3 and 4 only.
Letter of intent: Free
Eligibility site visit: Free. The school pays for travel & lodging expenses for the Commissioner
Self-study report: US $1,500 upon submission
Official site visit: US $2,000 and travel & lodging expenses for the Assessment Team and the Commissioner paid before site visit
Accreditation annual fee: US $2,500 for schools up to 400 students; US $2,800 for schools up to 600 students; US $3,100 for schools up to 800 students; US $3,400, for schools up to 1,000 students, US $4,100 for schools up to 1,500 students; and US $4,500 for schools with more than 1,500 students.
Annual conference: Conference registration fee US $650 + travel & lodging expenses for at least one participant. Each school campus shall be accredited separately.
Discounts: There will be a 50% discount for the self-study report, Official site visit fee, and Accreditation annual fee and annual conference for each additional campus within same organization. In addition, Assessment visits will last two (2) days instead of three (3) days and multiple school campus visits can be performed together if applied at the same time.
Payment Method: All monetary transactions, such as payment for travel and lodging expenses of evaluators and the commissioner will be made directly to ACASU before the trips and ACASU will make the arrangements for them. Electronic payment is accepted.
Conflict of interest policy: Schools shall not give any gifts totaling more than $50 a year to any staff or member of ACASU, including evaluating team and commissioner.