ICE's Organizational Members consist of associations, certifying organizations, customer groups, and government agencies that are interested in credentialing.
Today, ICE
is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing
educational, networking and advocacy resources for the credentialing
community. ICE's accrediting body, the National Commission for
Certifying Agencies (NCCA), evaluates certification organization for
compliance with the NCCA Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs. NCCA's Standards
exceed the requirements set forth by the American Psychological
Association and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
ICE is accredited by the American National Standards Institute as a Standards Developer.
ICE originated from the 1977 congressional creation of the National Commission for Health Certifying Agencies (NCHCA). With federal funding made available through the Department of Health and Human Services, its mission was to develop standards for quality certification in the allied health fields and to accredit organizations that met those standards. With the growing use of certification in other fields, the NCHCA leadership recognized that what was essential for quality certification ofindividuals in the healthcare sector was equally essential for other sectors. Hence, NCHCA evolved into the National Organization for Competency Assurance in 1987.
National Commission For Certifying Agencies
NCCA Accreditation
ICE's accrediting arm, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), is responsible for accreditation of individual certification programs. Please refer to the NCCA Accredited Certification Programs page for a complete list of programs currently accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
A new certification program (one that has not previously received NCCA accreditation) may apply for accreditation either after one year of administration of the assessment instrument or when at least 500 candidates have been assessed with that instrument, whichever comes first. These alternative eligibility pathways (i.e., one year or 500 candidates) are in place in recognition of the wide range of candidate volumes and assessment instrument modalities possible for high-quality certification programs.
The most current copy of the application and the standards is always accessible at www.noca.org.
Those without Internet access may contact the ICE/NCCA office at
202/367-1165
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800,
Washington, DC, 20036-3309.
