A national seal of quality
ACA accreditation is “a voluntary peer-review process of a camp's operations and procedures”, focused on health, safety and risk management. It is the only nationally recognized camp accreditation in the U.S., and parents, grantmakers and insurers look for it. It is separate from your state license, which you still need. For how accreditation works in general, see our Accreditation section.
Around 265 standards
ACA reviews a camp against roughly 265 standards, grouped by area (such as program aquatics and watercraft), with the mandatory ones flagged. The standards cover staffing and supervision, health care, emergency planning, aquatics and other activities, transportation, and facilities. A camp meets the standards that apply to its program; the full text lives in the ACA Accreditation Process Guide, available to member camps.
Camper-to-staff ratios
One of the most-cited standards is the staff ratio. ACA's ratio standard is:
ACA also requires that staff be at least 16 and at least two years older than their campers, with at least 80% of program staff aged 18 or older (100% at camps primarily serving people with special needs). State ratio rules often differ, so follow whichever is stricter. (Verify current figures against the latest ACA guide.)
Apply by February, visited in summer
The accreditation year runs November to October. For a summer visit, the ACA timeline is: take the Accreditation Process Workshop in the fall or winter, apply and pay by February 1, complete the workshop and Written Document Review by April 1, host a one-day peer visit during your camp's full operating season, and receive your status in November. ACA advises 8 to 18 months of preparation.
Dues, fees and staff time
ACA membership dues “start at $405” on a sliding scale by budget, and accreditation fees are a separate sliding scale by size and location, with no extra charge for the workshop or the visit team's expenses. For larger camps, reported annual accreditation fees run roughly $800 to $1,000. The real cost is usually the staff time and policy work to meet the standards, which is also the point.
Where accreditation earns credit
Beyond the quality signal, accreditation can lower insurance premiums, and several states give it regulatory weight: New Jersey accepts an ACA certificate in lieu of a local inspection, Oklahoma offers a licensing exemption for accredited camps, and Ohio requires accreditation for a day camp to receive state-funded child-care placements. Note the exception: Texas DSHS “cannot consider ACA accreditation to discount licensing fees”. Check how your state treats it.
Related resources
See Accreditation for the fundamentals, and the other gates: State licensing and Staffing & screening.
Frequently asked questions
- Is ACA accreditation required to run a camp? No. It is voluntary. Your state license is what is mandatory. But accreditation is the recognized national quality standard, can lower insurance, and in some states earns regulatory credit.
- How long does ACA accreditation take? Plan 8 to 18 months of preparation. Because the visit happens while the camp is operating, a new camp usually cannot be accredited until its second summer: apply by February 1, finish the workshop and document review by April 1, and host the visit that summer.
- How much does ACA accreditation cost? Membership dues start at $405 on a sliding scale, with separate sliding-scale accreditation fees (roughly $800–$1,000 a year for larger camps) and no extra charge for the visit team. The bigger cost is the staff time to meet the standards.
- What are the ACA staff ratios? By age: overnight camps run 1:5 (age 5 and under) to 1:10 (ages 15–18); day camps 1:6 to 1:12. Staff must be at least 16 and two years older than their campers. State rules may be stricter.
- Does accreditation help with licensing? In some states. New Jersey accepts it in lieu of inspection, Oklahoma offers an exemption, and Ohio requires it for state-funded child care. Texas, however, does not discount fees for it.