ABAI Accredited Programs
Teachers College, Columbia University
Doctoral
Program: PhD in Special Education: Applied Behavior Analysis (2011–2025)
Department: Health Sciences and Applied Educational Psychology
Modality: On-campus
Accreditation Status: Accredited through December 31, 2025
Summary of Accreditation Board's Decision: The ABAI Accreditation Board voted in 2022 to defer its re-accreditation decision of the PhD program for three years. This decision is based on the Board’s professional judgement that the accredited program is not consistent with the standards and has deficiencies. The program remains accredited during its deferral period.
Accreditation Board Notification Letter: Board's Decision Notification - Doctoral Program
Outcome Data: 2015 - 2024
Program Mission: The Teaching as Applied Behavior Analysis PhD incorporates an approach to teacher training in which all instruction used by teachers is based on scientific evidence and the use of scientific procedures to fit the appropriate science-based practices to individual students’ varied learning and language developmental needs. Research is a central component of the training—both the applications of research using science-based tactics and measurement, and the generation of new research. The focus of the MA program is in the application of scientific procedures in classrooms, while Ph.D. students engage in research throughout their program, building on their research training in the MA, culminating in a dissertation that identifies and investigates a topic related to our mission. Dissertations must make contributions to both the applied and basic science. The faculty and the students generate a substantial body of research leading to publications and presentations at international scientific conferences each year and this is a key component of the Ph.D. training. Programmatic research is conducted in the following areas: effective classroom practices, language/verbal development interventions that result in children learning to learn in different ways, observational learning, and systems wide scientific approaches to education.
Masters
Program: MA in Teaching Students with Disabilities: Applied Behavior Analysis (2011–2025)
Department: Health Sciences and Applied Educational Psychology
Modality: On-Campus
Accreditation Status: Accredited through December 31, 2025
Summary of Accreditation Board's Decision: The ABAI Accreditation Board voted in 2022 to defer its re-accreditation decision of the MA program for three years. This decision is based on the Board’s professional judgement that the accredited program is not consistent with the standards and has deficiencies. The program remains accredited during its deferral period.
Accreditation Board Notification Letter: Board's Decision Notification - Master's Program
Outcome Data: 2015 - 2024
Program Mission: Teaching as Applied Behavior Analysis is a strategic scientific educational model in which all instruction used by teachers is based on scientific evidence. In this approach, teachers use scientific procedures in the process of fitting the appropriate science-based practices to individual students’ learning and language developmental needs. The program prepares graduates to be dually certified in general and special education from birth to Grade 6 in New York State and reciprocating states and also prepares students to sit for the exam leading to NYS licensure in ABA. Students who successfully complete the M.A. core courses will satisfy the requirements to sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam. All students accepted into the program are placed in teacher assistant positions in model schools and classrooms that practice teaching as applied behavior analysis.
Contact: Dr. Daniel Fienup