Every five years, PAB undertakes a comprehensive review of its standards to ensure they are relevant, rigorous and aligned with current practice. This cycle ensures that we uphold minimum expectations for educational quality while being responsive to the needs and realities of the communities we serve. PAB will begin its next comprehensive standards revision process in 2027.
The PAB Standards Committee kicked off the process with a session at the 2026 ACSP conference – Process and Feedback for Revising the PAB Standards for 2027 on October 9. The committee also gathered initial input on the current PAB Accreditation Standards via an online survey.
Additional listening sessions will be offered next year.
PAB Standards Review and Revision Process
PAB Policies and Procedures Manual, Section 9.3 – Ongoing Standards Review and Revision
PAB periodically reviews and revises the standards by which it evaluates degree programs for accreditation and the procedures by which it carries out this responsibility. Comprehensive review and development of standards shall occur approximately every five years, but may occur more frequently at the Board’s discretion.
Any comments that are received regarding the standards, whether formally during the standards review process, or informally though unsolicited submission at any time, are shared with the PAB Standards Committee and collected/reviewed as part of the subsequent five-year process.
Whenever substantive changes in its standards are considered by PAB, changes in standards are made available for review and comment by the public for two separate 30-day periods, once in a preliminary draft phase and once before final adoption. The revisions to the PAB standards will apply for Self-Study Reports due in the subsequent calendar year, unless a specific implementation date is specified at the time of adoption.
