Accreditation Status
Dental education programs in the United States are accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, a specialized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. New or developing dental education programs are developed in accordance with the established Accreditation Standards for Dental Education, a copy of which can be found on the Commission on Dental Accreditation's area of www.ada.org at Accreditation Standards for Dental Education Programs.
Dental education programs first are considered for the accreditation classification of "Initial Accreditation". The classification of "Initial Accreditation" is applicable until the program is fully operational. Students who enter a program with the status of "Initial Accreditation" and who successfully complete the program are considered to be graduates of an accredited program for purposes of licensure, application to specialty programs, etc.
The Commission on Dental Accreditation, at its January 29-30, 2009 meeting, granted the DMD program "initial accreditation" and authorized the use of the following statement for Western University of Health Sciences to announce their dental program accreditation status.
The dental education program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation [and has been granted the accreditation status of initial accreditation]. The Commission is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education. The Commission on Dental Accreditation can be contacted at (312) 440-4653 or at 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611-2678.
As part of the Commission’s standard initial accreditation process, a third site visit will be conducted now that the WesternU DMD program is in its fourth year. The site visit is scheduled for April 16-18, 2013. Prior to a site visit the Commission on Dental Accreditation invites third party comments from all interested parties. All comments must be submitted to the commission at the address noted above by February 18, 2013. The commissions Policy on Third Party Comments is available here as a downloadable PDF document: CODA Third Party Comment Policy.
Further information about the dental accreditation process and the Commission on Dental Accreditation can be found at Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).