NFPT-CPT is Accredited by the NCCA

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) was created in 1987 by ICE (Institute for Credentialing Excellence), formerly NOCA, to help ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the public through the accreditation of a variety of certification programs/organizations that assess professional competence. Certification programs that receive NCCA Accreditation demonstrate compliance with the NCCA's Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs, which were the first standards for professional certification programs developed by the industry.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies is a 3rd party governing and accrediting authority with requirements which include standard business practices and independent development of minimum competency exams which asses the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of qualified certification candidates. Valid exam development represents a large part of the NCCA requirement which mandates quality control standards for all parts of the exam development process. This process starts with the clear definition of the vocational scope of practice, determined by a group of qualified and demographically diverse Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The same protocols, from the start of the exam development process with SMEs who perform test item writing and similarly related tasks, to the final stages of this process where test security and delivery standards are taken into consideration, are all protocols which are equally required of every NCCA accredited certifying agency.

NCCA accreditation of certifications serves the candidate and protects the public requiring certifiers to independently comply with unbiased exam validation procedures, yield to third party governance and accountability, and adopt operational protocols that legitimize the certification credential according to a recognized standard.

NCCA protects vocations from government regulation by acting as an acceptable self-governing standard. Protection from increased government regulation in this field is necessary to secure the employment and career growth of tens of thousands of full and part time personal trainers. These existing successful trainers may otherwise be required to obtain 4 year degrees and/or additional certifications to maintain their current positions. NCCA accreditation requires the certification organization to enforce continuing education processes and requirements of all their certified affiliates, assuring the credential is maintenanced appropriately and in a way which promotes safety, health, and public and government confidence through education and standardization.

NCCA has been accrediting certification organizations for over 20 years and has emerged more recently in the personal training industry as the standard for quality assurance. The process for accreditation is rigorous and demanding, only ten certification agencies of the nearly 200 which exist today are NCCA accredited. NCCA has been clearly identified as the governing authority and accrediting body of the personal training industry.

For more information, visit the ICE Website.