ATA Certification Program

Changes to the ATA Certification Program in 2004

Three important changes were made to the ATA Certification Program in January 2004.

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates for the examination will have to provide proof of a combination of education and work experience in order to qualify to take the examination.

All applicants must sign a statement that they have read and understood ATA's Code of Professional Conduct and Business Practices and that they pledge to abide by it.

Visit Eligiblity Requirements for the ATA Certification Exam to learn more about the education and experience prerequisites.

Continuing Education Requirements

ATA-certified members will have to earn and keep track of continuing education points, as determined by ATA, in order to maintain their certification credential. Certified members are given three years to accumulate 20 hours of credit, with a maximum of 10 hours in any given year. The first reporting of points will occur in 2007, which means that you do not report anything until then.

All newly-certified members will have to complete one hour of ethics during the first period after certification. This requirement can be fulfilled by either attending a workshop at the ATA Annual Conference or completing the association's online Ethics Course.

Learn more about ATA's continuing education program in the Guide to ATA Continuing Education Requirements.

Bylaws Amendment

The ATA membership voted to amend the bylaws to change the name of our program from "accreditation" to "certification." This name change is purely semantic, and its purpose is to bring our terminology into line with widely accepted usage. In common parlance, institutions are accredited, whereas individuals are certified.