By Ashlee Baker and Debra Conn

NASBA's Quality Assurance Service (QAS™) program, established in 1998, was created to ensure the quality of self-study Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses offered by National Registry sponsors. QAS™ programs included additional requirements beyond the Registry self-study programs, providing further assurance to state boards and their licensees.   

The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education Programs (Standards), revised January 2012, raised the standards for all self-study providers and eliminated the differences that previously existed between the QAS™ and Registry self-study requirements. Accordingly, NASBA initiated changes to the administration of these programs to offer one designation for self-study programs -QAS™ Self-Study. 

Because of the respected standards and processes for approval, many state boards accept self-study CPE course credits earned from QAS™ sponsors. Further, some boards only accept credits granted by this program. 

With the combined designation, an easier, more streamlined set of self-study guidelines for all sponsors was established. This also ensured that self-study courses would be more widely accepted by state boards.   

The NASBA Registry works diligently through the review process to ensure that QAS™ Self-Study courses claiming the name are of high quality and compliant with the Standards. The review process is like no other in the industry. To instill consistency and confidence, the QAS™ title should not be used by providers unless this credential has been rightfully earned through the application process to sponsorship.