Evaluation for Accreditation is only available for members of the Asia Theological Association. So the first step towards accreditation is to apply for Associate Membership of the Asia Theological Association.

When your institution has been accepted as an Associate Member, or when you are applying for the renewal of your accreditation, or for accreditation of a new program, you make a formal application for accreditation evaluation by completing the Institutional Fact Sheet about your institution and program(s).

Your application for accreditation (or accreditation renewal) evaluation is considered by the Accreditation Secretary. If your application is approved, your institution is granted Candidacy Status for new or renewed accreditation, and a provisional date for an evaluation visit is agreed.

Begin your Stakeholder and Institutional Impact Study. You should start at least nine months before the evaluation visit, and it is recommended to start twelve months before the visit. The Stakeholder Study enables you to hear and respond to the perspectives of your stakeholders on how you can become more effective and fruitful.

Begin writing your Self Study Report, a comprehensive self-evaluation responding to the questions in the Self-Study Questionnaire. You should start at least six months before the evaluation visit, and it is recommended to start up to nine months before the visit. Your Self-study Report will include the findings of your Stakeholder Survey.

When you have completed your Stakeholder Study and Self-Study Report, and updated your Fact Sheet (with statistics to the month before submission), send them, with other supporting documentation, to the Accreditation Secretary. This should be at least three months before the date of the evaluation visit. You should now begin to prepare for the evaluation visit.

The Visiting Evaluation Team (VET) comes and carries out a comprehensive onsite evaluation. At the end of the visit, the VET leader gives a preliminary report, with an indication of the team’s recommendations about accreditation.

The VET sends its Report to the Accreditation Secretary. The Commission on Accreditation and Educational Development (CAED) considers the Report, and decides whether to confirm the VET’s recommendations on accreditation.

Assuming all goes well, the CAED, via the Accred¬itation Secretary, will confirm your institutional and program accreditation.

To maintain accredited status your institution submits annual reports and pays your annual fees to the ATA. You may also have accreditation reports to submit, based on the VET Report you have received.