The COA has a budget of about $40,000/year, excluding the cost of donated office space. The major budget items are:

• The part-time Director of Accreditation, who insures that the process of accreditation, reaffirmation of accreditation, and reporting takes place;
• Two weekend Commission meetings per year during which we conduct all of the Commission's formal decision-making, along with the final decisions on programmatic accreditation;
• Accounting and compliance with requirements of the Internal Revenue Service for registered 501(c)(3) charities; and
• Special projects/needs as they arise.

About 2/3 of the total cost of the Commission is born by the accredited programs, who are currently paying $1,250/year. In order for the current programs to bear the total cost of the Commission, the annual fee would have to be about $1,900/year. Since this is more than the total non-salary operating cost of many of the programs, without the support of the individuals, professional organizations, and companies listed below, the COA would be unable to continue to carry out its mission.

The costs of the on-site visits, where a team of two or three volunteers spend two to three days visiting a program for the purpose of fact finding, peer review, and validation of the accrediting decision, is always born completely by the individual school/program.

The Commissioners thank the individuals, companies, and organizations listed below for their support of formal Opticianry education.