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March, 2014 InFRE Update: The Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) Is Re-Accredited

Great news!  The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) has granted re-accreditation status to International Foundation for Retirement Education’s (InFRE) Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) program for demonstrating compliance with the NCCA Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs. The CRC® program is re-accredited for another five-year period, expiring July 31, 2019.  InFRE’s Certified Retirement Counselor certification first received NCCA accreditation in 2009.

NCCA is the accrediting body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE).  ICE’s mission is to advance credentialing through education, standards, research, and advocacy to ensure competence across professions and occupations. NCCA was founded as a commission whose mission is to help ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the public through the accreditation of a variety of certification programs that assess professional competence.  NCCA accredited programs certify individuals in a wide range of professions and occupations including nurses, financial professionals, respiratory therapists, counselors, emergency technicians, crane operators and more.

The NCCA Standards were created in 1977 and updated in 2003 to ensure certification programs adhere to modern standards of practice for the certification industry.  NCCA uses a peer review process to: establish accreditation standards; evaluate compliance with these standards; recognize organizations/programs which demonstrate compliance; and serve as a resource on quality certification.  InFRE joins an elite group of more than 120 organizations representing over 270 programs that have received and maintained NCCA accreditation.  To view the standards visit http://www.credentialingexcellence.org/ncca/ncca.htm.

Founded in 1997, InFRE is a professional certification organization acting in the public interest by establishing and enforcing education, examination, experience and ethics requirements for retirement certification.  Currently, almost 1,900 professionals are certified to use the Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC) certification.