Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

What Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation does

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for educator preparation providers (EPPs) in the United States. Formed in 2013 through the merger of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), CAEP evaluates colleges, universities, and other institutions that prepare P-12 educators against rigorous 2022 Initial-Level and Advanced-Level standards covering content and pedagogical knowledge, clinical partnerships, candidate quality, program impact, and Title IV compliance. The organization serves 544 accredited providers spanning 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and five Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, UAE), and has established formal partnership agreements with more than 31 state education agencies to align national accreditation with state program approval.

CAEP's core technology is AIMS 2.0 (Accreditation Information Management System), a proprietary data collection and management platform that supports self-study reports, annual accreditation reports, program reviews, and accreditation decision workflows. AIMS 2.0 aggregates standardized data on eight measures including student learning, teacher effectiveness, employer satisfaction, and consumer information. The CAEP Learning Center, built on the LearnUpon LMS, hosts professional learning resources including the free Family Engagement Course launched in 2025 in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NAFSCE, and BranchED. CAEP also operates the annual CAEPCon conference series (Fall in-person and Spring virtual) and the CAEP Voices multimedia content program.

CAEP is a nonprofit organization governed by an 18-member Board of Directors and is funded through annual fees invoiced to EPPs based on the number of program completers, plus multi-year accreditation review fees and travel reimbursement for peer reviewer site visits. Pricing is opaque but tiered to institutional size. The go-to-market motion is enterprise field sales-style engagement with EPP leadership and state education agencies, supplemented by digital self-serve access via AIMS 2.0 and the public Provider Search database. No venture capital or private equity backing is indicated, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The organization operates with 11–50 employees from a single Washington, DC headquarters and benefits from approximately $4 million annually in donated volunteer services from peer reviewers and governance participants.

Name

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

Legal name

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

Website

https://caepnet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CAEP is the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for U.S. educator preparation providers, evaluating colleges and universities against rigorous 2022 standards. It serves 544 accredited institutions across 43 states and five international markets, operating the AIMS 2.0 data platform and Learning Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educator Preparation Accreditation

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Programmatic Accreditors (Discipline/Profession-Specific) (EDADACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Approval & Oversight (EDADAJAD), Education Professionals (Teacher/Administrator CE, CPD) (EDAAALAE)

Keywords

• Educator preparation accreditation
• Teacher preparation standards
• Education quality assurance
• Program accreditation services
• Educator certification review

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Annual EPP Fees: Annual fees invoiced late spring/early summer to all educator preparation providers (both candidacy and accredited) based on the number of completers. Covers costs of maintaining accreditation status and administrative operations.
2. Accreditation Review Fees: Fees covering CAEP administrative support for the accreditation review process, including panel of expert peer reviewers.
3. Review Expenses: Travel costs for review teams conducting site visits to evaluate educator preparation providers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CAEP is the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for educator preparation providers (EPPs) in the United States. It evaluates colleges, universities, and other institutions that prepare P-12 educators against rigorous 2022 Initial-Level and Advanced-Level Standards through a peer-review process involving self-studies, formative reviews, site visits, and ongoing annual reporting. The AIMS 2.0 platform supports data collection and accreditation workflows for 544 accredited providers across 43 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and international locations.

Product overview

CAEP offers a unified accreditation ecosystem for educator preparation providers (EPPs). The core offering is CAEP Accreditation, which evaluates EPPs against rigorous 2022 Standards (Initial-Level and Advanced-Level). This is supported by AIMS 2.0, the accreditation management platform for self-studies and annual reports. CAEP provides the free CAEP Family Engagement Course through its CAEP Learning Center (built on LearnUpon), hosts CAEPCon conferences, and publishes comprehensive accreditation resources. The portfolio works together to advance educator preparation quality through evidence-based accreditation and continuous improvement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CAEP Accreditation The core accreditation service evaluating educator preparation providers (EPPs) against CAEP Standards. Providers demonstrate evidence of meeting rigorous benchmarks for initial and advanced-level teacher preparation through a multi-stage process including self-study, formative review, and site visits. For colleges, universities, and other institutions offering P-12 educator preparation programs.
• AIMS 2.0

Quantifiable outcome

• 36 providers from 22 states earned accreditation in Fall 2025, bringing total to 544 CAEP-accredited providers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in development of CAEP Family Engagement Course. Contributed expertise on professional competencies for family engagement and collaborated on course content and alignment with best practices.
• Branch Alliance for Educational Diversity (BranchED)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in development of CAEP Family Engagement Course, contributing to preparation of teacher candidates and administrators in working effectively with families and communities.
• Competency Based Education Network (CBEN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAEP partnership with CBEN and AACTE to create tools and resources for EPPs to design high quality competency-based programs and provide robust data for accreditation.
• Alabama State Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState partnership agreement providing State Review, CAEP Evidence Review of Standard R1/RA1, and SPA Program Review options. CAEP-state partnerships align national standards with state requirements.
• Mississippi State Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState partnership agreement with State Review, CAEP Evidence Review, and SPA options. Mississippi requires all educator preparation providers to be CAEP accredited.
• California Commission on Teacher CredentialingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState partnership agreement providing State Program Review option for California EPPs.
• 31 Additional State Education AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership agreements with Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ABET: ABET is a programmatic accreditor for STEM (engineering, computing, etc.) programs — structurally the closest analog to CAEP in the programmatic accreditation category. Comparable in business model (programmatic standards, peer review, fee-based) and not in subject matter.
• AACSB International: AACSB accredits business and accounting programs and shares CAEP's programmatic accreditation model, fee structure, and global higher-education customer base.
• Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP): AAQEP is the most direct competitor to CAEP — a recognized accreditor specifically for educator preparation providers. It competes head-to-head with CAEP for state program approval pathways and EPP accreditation contracts.
• American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education: The ABA is the recognized accreditor of US law schools, comparable to CAEP as a programmatic accreditor with a single nationally recognized position over a professional preparation pathway.
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE): CCNE is an autonomous programmatic accreditor for nursing programs, structurally similar to CAEP — programmatic, fee-based, standards-driven accreditation of professional preparation programs at US higher-education institutions.
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME): LCME is the nationally recognized programmatic accreditor for MD-granting medical schools — a structural twin to CAEP in how it serves as the single recognized accreditor in a specific profession's preparation pipeline.

Broad incumbents

• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC): SACSCOC is a regional accreditor covering institutions in the southern US, where a large share of CAEP-accredited providers operate. Comparable as a peer accreditor in the same institutional quality-assurance market.
• Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA): CHEA is the US meta-recognizer that recognizes accrediting organizations, including CAEP itself. It is comparable as the higher-level gatekeeper in the same accreditation ecosystem CAEP operates in.
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC): HLC is a large regional accreditor of degree-granting institutions; many CAEP-accredited EPPs (universities) are also HLC-accredited. Operates in the same institutional accreditation ecosystem that CAEP sits within.
• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC): WSCUC is a regional accreditor for western US universities, many of which host CAEP-accredited EPPs. Comparable as a peer institutional accreditor serving overlapping higher-education customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/caepupdates
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCcoA11nacfh7-JvLBGE9UXA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/council-for-the-accreditation-of-educator-preparation-caep-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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