The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is the official organization that accredits graduate programs that prepare counseling professionals—counselors, counseling supervisors, and counselor educators. Accreditation began in 1978 by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES). The UNT counseling program was one of the first five programs accredited by ACES. In 1981, ACES turned accreditation over to the American Counseling Association (ACA) that created CACREP as an ACA affiliate, and CACREP accepted all ACES-accredited programs. The UNT counseling program has maintained accreditation since that time, making it one of the longest accredited counseling programs in the country.

CACREP sets standards for counseling program institutions, administration, faculty, and curriculum. In a self-study every eight years, the program faculty presents evidence of the extent to which the program meets or exceeds those standards. They submit the self-study in writing and then host an on-site team that CACREP sends to observe program operations directly.

The UNT Counseling program was last re-accredited in 2002. The program’s CACREP liaison at that time, Dr. Michael Altekruse, had a long history of accreditation experience, having been involved in it since its inception. He said not only that the 2002 on-site team found all CACREP standards were met, but also that he had never seen a program receive such a positive on-site team report. The counseling program faculty is proud of this accomplishment and continues to strive to have the best counselor preparation program possible.