The ACS Approval Program promotes excellence in chemistry education for undergraduate students through approval of baccalaureate chemistry programs. ACS-approved programs offer a broad-based and rigorous chemistry education that gives students intellectual, experimental, and communication skills to become effective scientific professionals.
The ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT) establishes guidelines and standards for the approval of bachelor’s degree programs in chemistry. Staff in the ACS Approval Program Office are responsible for administering the ACS approval process.
Benefits of an ACS-Approved Program
- Institutions with an ACS-approved chemistry program attract top high school talent looking for established and rigorous departments.
- Approved departments are staffed by accomplished faculty, contain a modern and well-maintained infrastructure, and provide a coherent chemistry curriculum.
- Employers find graduates of approved programs to be better prepared for technical employment.
The approval process provides a mechanism for departments to:
- Evaluate their program;
- Identify areas of strength and opportunities for change; and
- Leverage support from their institutions and external agencies.
ACS Guidelines for Bachelor's Degree Programs
The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs provide approved programs with opportunities to develop chemistry degree tracks that are appropriate to the educational missions of their institutions. These guidelines were approved by CPT in January 2023 and will be used for program review.
ACS Approved Programs 2023
There are currently 701 ACS Approved Programs.
Data from Institutions with ACS Approved Programs
Data gathered from ACS Periodic and Annual Reports are used to explore the current educational landscape of undergraduate chemistry programs in the United States.
- Data & Reports: View data including the number of bachelor's degree recipients from 2010-present and demographics for bachelor's degree recipients.
- Additional Data: View demographics of graduate students, and faculty, faculty salaries, data from the recent (2020) graduate program survey, and more.
If you are interested in obtaining data from approved programs, including data broken down by type of institution, region, or by the number of certified degrees, please contact the ACS Approval Program Office at cpt@acs.org. Please note that we are only able to provide aggregate data.
Office of Higher Education Team
Day-to-day operations the ACS Approval Program and Office of Higher Education are administered by:
- Michelle M. Brooks, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Office of Higher Education
- Kerry Barnett, Ph.D., Program Manager, ACS Approval Program
- Wasiu Lawal, Ph.D., Program Manager, ACS Recognition Program
- Ashlie Wrenne, Ph.D. Program Manager, Two-Year Colleges
- Darrell A. Alexander, Program Specialist/Budget Analyst
- Anna Peterson, Program Specialist
- Nick Jenkins, Data Analyst
Resources for Faculty
Teaching in the Time of COVID-19 : Explore resources from faculty members and departments chairs at ACS-approved institutions.
An Overview of the 2022-23 Revised Guidelines (PDF): BCCE presentation providing an overview of the changes expected for the revised ACS Guidelines.
ACS Approved Institutions-Data (PDF): BCCE presentation discussing data derived from annual and periodic reports as well as from the 2019-2020 Graduate Program Survey.
CPT hosted a live-streamed town hall meeting at the ACS Fall Meeting in Chicago, Illinois in August 2022. CPT chairperson Scott Reid and other members of the committee discussed the proposed changes in the ACS guidelines.
