Get Accredited – Candidacy Status

The Letter of Application for Candidacy Status may be submitted at any time. The PAB Executive Committee will review the letter at its next scheduled committee meeting. The following information should be included in the letter, submitted on the institution’s letterhead and under the signature of the Chief Executive Officer  or Chief Academic Officer:

1. Degree title(s) offered by program;
2. Name of planning program;
3. Name of college or home unit;
4. Name of institution;
5. Statement demonstrating your degree program’s readiness to undergo initial accreditation review, based on the PAB Standards. Include information highlighting the need for the program, the capacity to conduct the program, and institutional support for the program.
6. Compliance with Preconditions to Accreditation. * All programs applying for accreditation review must meet five preconditions. Programs [undergoing re-accreditation also] must demonstrate in their Self-Study Reports that they meet the preconditions to accreditation. As the PAB is desirous of promoting innovation and experimentation in planning education, programs which do not meet the preconditions in a strictly literal sense, but which meet the spirit of these provisions, may petition the PAB for special consideration. Such petitions and Self-Study Reports must provide evidence that the program meets the spirit of the preconditions.

• Program Graduates: Programs shall have granted the degree for which accreditation is sought to at least 25 students.
  This precondition ensures that there is sufficient program experience for the evaluation of the program’s performance relative to the accreditation criteria.
• Accreditation Status of the Institution: The program’s parent institution shall be accredited by an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or by its successor organization.
• Program and Degree Titles: Formal titles of programs and degrees shall contain the word “planning.”
  This precondition encourages institutions to employ nomenclature which accurately indicates the program’s emphasis. The nomenclature is an important identifier for prospective students, as well as for the employers of the program’s graduates. Evidence of course coverage and faculty qualifications shall be submitted that justifies the program and degree titles.
• Length of Program: Undergraduate degree programs shall require a minimum of four academic years of full-time study or the equivalent. For students for whom the graduate degree constitutes the first professional degree in planning, a minimum of two academic years of full-time study or the equivalent in planning is required.
  This precondition ensures that the program has the flexibility to offer the full curriculum of planning and related courses which are appropriate for an accredited degree.
  
  –Guideline: Fast-tracking. Programs that combine undergraduate education with a graduate degree in planning in a total of less than six academic years or the equivalent shall meet all the criteria of an accredited graduate degree.
  -Guideline: Dual Degrees. Programs may allow a degree in planning to be earned simultaneously with a degree in another field, in less time than required to earn each degree separately. All criteria of an accredited graduate degree in planning must be met and the electives allowed to meet requirements of the other degree must be appropriate as electives for a planning degree.

• Primary Focus: The degree program’s primary focus shall be that of preparing students to become practitioners in the planning profession.
  Only those degree programs which are engaged explicitly in the education and training of professional planners are eligible for accreditation. Specifically excluded are: (1) Ph.D. programs; (2) undergraduate programs which are pre-professional, rather than professional, in intent; (3) programs which teach planning as a subject interest, rather than as a field of professional practice; (4) urban studies or urban affairs programs; and (5) programs with a primary mission other than that of training professional planners (for example, programs in which planning is a major or specialization available to students pursuing a degree in a related field).

Note: The existence of a campus-based program which meets all preconditions is a prerequisite for an application from a program delivered via distance education. For accreditation purposes, programs are evaluated in the same way regardless of modalities of delivery.