Accreditation

Accreditation in the United States involves non-governmental peer evaluations of educational institutions and programs. Regional, national, and specialized accreditors have established criteria and procedures for evaluating institutions or programs to determine whether or not they are operating at basic levels of quality. In most other countries, accreditation or quality assurance is carried out by government organizations.

American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission

Understanding that the future of the culinary industry would be determined by the competence of the individuals entering the field, the American Culinary Federation (ACF) established the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFFAC). The ACFFAC, recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), provides regulatory oversight of post-secondary institutions.

The primary function of the ACFFAC is programmatic accreditation. This specialized accreditation is a voluntary action on the part of the institution that requires curriculum, faculty, resources, support staff, and organizational structure all meet or exceed quality standards.

Culinary or foodservice programs that are accredited by the ACFFAC have been reviewed against established standards. These programs undergo a self-evaluation and report their findings to the ACFFAC. The ACFFAC then authorizes a fact-finding team to visit the school to verify compliance with the standards. The self-evaluation, the report of the fact-finding team, and the program response to the fact-finding report, are studied. The ACFFAC then grants accreditation to programs that meet the published standards.

Public Comments
In accordance with the American Culinary Federation Foundation policies and procedures, the public is invited to make comments about institutions that are applying for programmatic accreditation of their culinary programs. Please send comments in writing to cchilders@acfchefs.net or mail comments to:

American Culinary Federation Foundation
Attn: Director of Accreditation
180 Center Place Way
St. Augustine, FL 32095
Fax: (904) 825-4758

For a list of institutions applying for post-secondary accreditation visit ACFFAC Postsecondary Accreditation programs or for a listing of schools applying for secondary certification visit ACFF Secondary Certification.

ACFF Accreditation Brochure