The FAA Academy is pursuing accreditation from the Council on Occupational Education (COE). Accreditation is a status granted to an educational institution or program that meets or exceeds stated academic quality criteria and student achievement.
Accreditation emerged in the United States in the late 1800s as a voluntary peer-review process initiated by educational institutions to ensure quality in particular types of institutions (e.g., colleges, high schools, and subsequently other types of institutions). Accreditation has two fundamental purposes: (1) to ensure the quality of the institution or program and (2) to assist in improving the institution or program. Accreditation applies to institutions or programs which distinguish it from certification and licensure, which apply to individuals.
The Council on Occupational Education (COE) came into existence initially in 1971 as the Commission on Occupational Education Institutions (COEI) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). This regional accrediting association serves institutions in an eleven-state region.
Throughout its history, the Council and its predecessor agency received recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a reliable authority on the quality of education offered by its accredited institutions. Its current scope of recognition is as a national institutional accrediting agency for accrediting non-degree-granting and applied associate degree-granting post-secondary occupational education institutions (Source: Council.org).
All divisions of the Academy are a part of the scope! The Academy COE Program Teams are currently preparing information that supports the accreditation effort. Now, the team is completing a comprehensive document called the Self-Study Report. This report details the Academy’s history, local area, educational programs, infrastructure, student body, instructional scope, and administrative processes. It’s a very detailed product requiring expertise from throughout the Academy’s divisions.
The Academy will host a COE evaluation team May 2 – 5, 2022. This event will culminate the Academy’s effort and is the basis of COE’s decision to approve or disapprove accreditation. The path to accreditation takes approximately 24 months from the initial submission of an application for candidate status to the final decision for accreditation. We are completing the critical elements that we need to ensure our success!
You may ask yourself who in the federal government are members of COE? Understanding the larger community that the Academy seeks to enter gives context to the importance of accreditation and who made the journey towards continuous self-improvement. The Joint Military Intelligence Training Center, National Geospatial-Intelligence College, Submarine Learning Center, and the White House Communications Agency Training Academy represent a small sample of the overall federal COE community.
