The mark of any quality higher education institution's academic programs is its ability to receive and maintain accreditation, endorsement or distinction by nationally known and respected agencies, accrediting bodies and ranking programs.  Among these measures of quality and distinction are:

Academic Unit	Organization	Affected Area(s)
University-wide	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS  )	Bachelor's, first professional, master's, educational specialist and doctorate degrees
College-wide	National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE  )	All programs preparing teachers and other professional school personnel
	Alabama State Board of Education (ALSBE )	All programs preparing teachers and other professional school personnel
	National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC )	All programs preparing teachers and other professional school personnel
	U.S.News and World Report "2009 Best Graduate Programs" (more)	No. 77 nationally (out of 250 schools) in 2008
Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology, and School Psychology	American Psychological Association (APA  )	Counseling Psychology doctoral program
	Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP  )	School Counseling master's program; Community Agency Counseling master's program; Counselor Education doctoral program
Curriculum and Teaching	National Association of Schools of Music (NASM  )	Music Education programs
Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology	Full Member, University Council for Education Administration (UCEA )	Educational Administration programs
Health and Human Performance	American College of Sports Medicine, University Connection Program endorsement (ACSM  )	Health Promotion program
	American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE )	No. 28 nationally for its doctoral programs in 2006
Rehabilitation and Special Education	Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE  )	Rehabilitation Education graduate program
	U.S.News and World Report Health Disciplines / Rehabilitation Counseling (more )	No. 17 nationally (current ranking period: 2005-2007)