Programs housed in CAEP units (new or reapproval) must submit materials for full review through the AIMS CAEP electronic review system. The program submission must respond to all standards and provide evidence of data on all required assessments. New programs submitting for Initial Review must provide one application of data for all required assessments. Programs that submit for reapproval must provide two applications of data for all required assessments.

Deadlines for submission are March 15^th and September 15^th.   

During the review process, teams of two or three trained, volunteer professionals review each submission using rubrics established for each standard and for required assessments and submit individual reports to the NASP Program Accreditation Board (PAB). Standards are judged as having been Met or Not Met.  Elements (or subparts) of standards are judged as being Acceptable, Marginal, or Not Acceptable. 

The PAB then reviews these reports, examines program materials as necessary to resolve inconsistencies and differences in reports, and makes a decision regarding the program's status. NASP reviewer ratings and PAB judgments regarding whether standards are Met or Not Met are based on the preponderance of evidence at the standard level, which do not require that every element of a standard be met. 

There are three possible outcomes:

1. Programs meeting all standards are awarded Full Approval for up to 7 years.
2. Programs that are not judged as meeting all standards may obtain Conditional Approval and will be afforded up to two years to submit a Response to Conditions. In the Response to Conditions report, the program should respond to all of those Standards and/or Elements that were judged as Not Met, Marginal, or Not Acceptable. 
3. Programs that are judged as Not Approved, do not meet the majority of standards and are encouraged to review the feedback provided and submit at a later time.