Planning Accreditation Board

What Planning Accreditation Board does

The Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) is an independent nonprofit accreditation body headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, established to evaluate and credential university planning programs across North America. PAB is the sole accrediting body for bachelor's and master's degree programs in urban and regional planning, currently overseeing 80 master's and 16 bachelor's programs at 84 universities in the United States and Canada. The organization operates under sponsorship from three core partners: the American Planning Association (APA), the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), and received formal recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in May 2023.

PAB's core service offering centers on its accreditation framework, codified in the Amended 2022 Accreditation Standards (effective January 2026), which consists of 5 standards, 29 criteria, and 9 curriculum sub-criteria. Programs seeking accreditation submit Self-Study Reports through the Armature Fabric online platform, undergo on-site evaluations conducted by trained site visitors, and receive multi-year accreditation terms (typically 5 or 7 years). Supporting products include the Self-Study Report Manual and Templates, Site Visit Tools, and supplementary guidance documents such as the 2024 Criterion 4D Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Guidance.

PAB generates revenue through annual accreditation fees charged to member programs, with specific fee amounts not publicly disclosed. The 1-10 employee organization is led by Executive Director Jesmarie Soto Johnson, CAE, and Associate Director Jaclyn Hade, and markets primarily through its website, quarterly newsletter, and participation at the ACSP and APA national conferences. As a fee-funded nonprofit, PAB holds no equity, has no parent company, and operates as a regulatory-style monopoly within its specialized domain of planning education accreditation.

Name

Planning Accreditation Board

Legal name

Planning Accreditation Board

Website

https://planningaccreditationboard.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) is an independent nonprofit that serves as the sole accrediting body for 96 bachelor's and master's planning programs at 84 North American universities, evaluating program quality against codified standards under sponsorship from APA, AICP, and ACSP.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Accreditation

NAICS

Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Accreditation Evaluation, Peer Review & Site-Visit Organizations (EDADACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

National/Institutional Accreditors (Career, Faith-Based, Distance, etc.) (EDADACAB)

Keywords

• Program accreditation services
• Higher education accreditation
• Professional accreditation standards
• Planning program quality assurance
• Academic program accreditation

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

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

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) accredits university planning programs in North America leading to bachelor's and master's degrees in urban and regional planning. PAB evaluates programs against established standards and criteria through self-study report submissions, on-site reviews, and board determinations, conferring accreditation status that signals quality assurance to students, employers, and the planning profession. PAB currently accredits 80 master's and 16 bachelor's programs across 84 North American universities.

Product overview

The Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) offers a unified accreditation service for academic planning programs, operating through its core accreditation framework. The portfolio includes the accreditation standards (Amended 2022 Accreditation Standards), Self-Study Report documentation (Manual and Templates), Site Visit Tools, and the online management platform (Armature Fabric). PAB also provides supplementary resources like the Criterion 4D guidance document and publishes the PAB Newsletter. Programs submit accreditation documentation through Armature Fabric, and the directory of all 96 accredited programs (80 master's, 16 bachelor's at 84 universities) is publicly accessible.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Program Accreditation Services Core accreditation service evaluating and granting accreditation status to university planning programs in North America, conducting external reviews against established standards and criteria to ensure quality education in urban and regional planning.

Named customers13 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• American Planning Association (APA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPA is one of PAB's three sponsoring organizations and provides input on accreditation standards development. APA also publishes the APA Salary Survey referenced in PAB newsletters.
• American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAICP, a subsidiary of APA, is a sponsoring organization that contributes to PAB accreditation standards development. AICP credentials are the professional standard for planners.
• Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACSP is PAB's third sponsoring organization and represents the academic planning community. PAB holds its fall meeting annually at the ACSP National Conference.
• Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA)coreOthersPAB is a member of ASPA and adheres to the ASPA Code of Good Practice, demonstrating commitment to professional accreditation standards.
• Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHEA recognized PAB in May 2023 for accreditation scope: Academic programs in North America leading to bachelor's and master's degrees in urban and regional planning. PAB undergoes periodic review by CHEA.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• American Planning Association (APA): APA is one of PAB's three sponsoring organizations, providing input on accreditation standards. It is not an accreditor itself but the broader professional association for planners, making it a partner/ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor to PAB.
• Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA): CHEA is the national coordinating body that recognized PAB in May 2023. It does not accredit programs directly but provides recognition and quality oversight over specialized accreditors like PAB, making it an upstream governance body rather than a competitor.

Direct peers

• Council on Social Work Education (CSWE): CSWE accredits baccalaureate and master's social work programs in the U.S. It shares PAB's model of specialized programmatic accreditation for professional degrees, with CHEA recognition and recurring accreditation cycles for member schools.
• AACSB International: AACSB International is the leading specialized programmatic accreditor for business schools globally. Like PAB, it accredits specific degree programs within universities under a CHEA-recognized framework, sharing the same operational model of peer review, site visits, and annual fees from member institutions.
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME): LCME accredits MD-granting medical schools in the U.S. and Canada. While operating at the institutional level for medical schools, LCME shares PAB's North American scope, CHEA recognition, and peer review-driven accreditation model for health-related professional degrees.
• Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE): ACPE accredits professional pharmacy degree programs. It mirrors PAB's structure of accrediting specific professional degree programs in universities under CHEA-recognized standards, with peer review and site-visit-based evaluation.
• ABET: ABET accredits applied science, computing, engineering, and technology programs. It operates under the same specialized programmatic accreditation model as PAB, with peer review, site visits, and CHEA recognition, serving university degree programs rather than entire institutions.
• National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB): NAAB accredits professional degree programs in architecture. It is the closest discipline-specific peer to PAB, both accrediting design-related professional degrees at U.S. universities through peer review, site visits, and standards-based evaluation recognized by CHEA.
• American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation: APA accredits doctoral programs in professional psychology. Like PAB, it is a CHEA-recognized specialized accreditor for graduate-level professional degrees within universities, using peer review and site visits to evaluate programs against discipline-specific standards.

Broad incumbents

• Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA): ASPA is the membership organization of which PAB is a member, representing specialized and professional accreditors. It is not a direct peer in accrediting individual programs but operates in the same ecosystem, setting good-practice standards that PAB adheres to via the ASPA Code of Good Practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/planning-accreditation-board

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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