Schools and programs accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) report placement for every program once a year, and ABHES treats a placement rate it cannot verify as seriously as one that is low. The 2025-2026 Annual Report is due by 5:00 p.m. ET on November 3, 2026. This guide covers the formula, the benchmark, the documentation ABHES expects, and the timeline.
What is the ABHES placement rate? It is the share of a program's graduates who are employed in a job that uses the skills and knowledge from the training, after removing graduates who are unavailable for placement. ABHES calculates it as placed graduates divided by total graduates minus unavailable graduates, for graduates between July 1 and June 30, and each program is reported separately in the Annual Report. ABHES expects at least 70% placement for each program, and a rate below that requires an action plan. A graduate must be employed for 15 days, with confirmation no earlier than 15 days after the start date. The Annual Report covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 is due November 3, 2026. Prentus helps career schools and health education programs find and document the employment evidence behind the rate, so staff confirm outcomes instead of starting each file from zero.
This post summarizes ABHES's published materials as of October 2026, based on the 19th Edition Accreditation Manual (effective February 1, 2026) and the 2025-2026 Annual Report Guidebook. Confirm each requirement with ABHES before you file.
What to report in the ABHES Annual Report
The 2025-2026 Annual Report Guidebook describes an online report with a program information section, a questionnaire, and a financial report for institutional members. Outcomes come from one Excel program template per approved program.
| Item | What ABHES asks for | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Program template | One Excel template per approved program, uploaded in the program information section. The template calculates retention, placement and exam pass rates. The system rejects files that are not .xlsx. | Annual Report Guidebook |
| Placement statistics | For each program, every student who graduated between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, whenever they enrolled. Graduated, placed, not placed or placed out of field, and unavailable columns. | Guidebook; Manual V.I.1.d |
| Retention statistics | Retention rate is ending enrollment plus graduates, divided by beginning enrollment plus new starts plus re-entries. | Annual Report Guidebook |
| Credentialing statistics | Where a license or credential exam is required, the pass rate is graduates passing divided by graduates taking the exam. | Manual V.I.1.c |
| Action plans | Required for any retention, placement or credentialing rate below 70%. | Guidebook; Manual III.A.11.d |
| Enrollment increase appendix | Required for any program with enrollment growth of 50% or more, including its effect on placement in the field of study. | Manual III.A.11.e |
| Campus reports and fee | A separate report and sustaining fee for each main and non-main campus. Campuses are never combined. | Annual Report Guidebook |
How ABHES calculates placement
Standard V.I.1.d of the Accreditation Manual and the Guidebook use the same formula for the reporting period July 1 through June 30.
Placement rate
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| P, placed graduates | Graduates employed in a position where the majority of the job functions require the skills and knowledge acquired through the training program. |
| G, total graduates | Students who completed all program requirements and received their diploma, certificate or degree in the reporting period. |
| U, unavailable for placement | Graduates with circumstances that prevent employment. Change in legal status, continuing education status, death, health-related issues, incarceration, or military obligations. |
Take a made-up example. A program has 30 graduates. One enrolls in another program of study and one has a military assignment elsewhere, so 28 are available for placement. Twenty of them are placed. The rate is 20 divided by 28, or 71.4%. The two unavailable graduates each need documentation of their status in the file.
The Guidebook adds the detail that decides many files.
- Continuing education counts as unavailable only when the graduate is enrolled in and attending another program of study. Continuing high school enrollment does not qualify.
- Health-related unavailability requires a reason that was not pre-existing, or sole caregiver responsibility for someone who needs full-time care.
- Military obligations cover the graduate or a spouse or partner who received orders to report to an assignment outside the current location.
- A graduate who signed a waiver declining placement assistance cannot be counted as unavailable. That graduate stays in the not placed group unless the institution validates that they are working.
What counts as placed
- The 15-day rule. A graduate must be employed for 15 days, and the confirmation of employment must take place no earlier than 15 days after employment begins.
- Majority of job functions. The test is whether most of the job functions relate to skills and knowledge from the program, not whether the job title matches.
- Different title. A Medical Assisting graduate who becomes a Medical Coder can count, with rationale and documentation such as a job description showing program skills as duties, or employer verification that the program training was the reason for the hire.
- Same job throughout. A graduate who kept the same employment during and after the program can count if the institution can evidence that they benefited from the training, such as a promotion, a job requirement that was met, or a letter from the employer.
- Self-employed. Counts with additional documentation and rationale.
For ABHES-accredited programs
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Documentation to keep
Standard V.I.1.d sets the floor. At a minimum the institution maintains the names of graduates, place of employment, job title, employer contact information, and the employment and confirmation dates, using the ABHES Backup Documentation Form. Beyond that floor, the manual requires additional documentation and rationale when any of these apply.
- The placed graduate's job title does not match the title of the approved program.
- The placed graduate kept the same employment throughout the program and the institution can evidence a benefit from the training.
- The graduate is classed as unavailable for placement. The Guidebook lists example documents such as visa or work permit correspondence, an enrollment agreement or acceptance letter, a death certificate, a doctor's note, military orders, or a graduate attestation.
- The placed graduate is self-employed.
A graduate attestation can support any placement categorization. If the institution uses one, the campus needs a policy to verify the authenticity and completeness of the attestation, and the graduate must sign and date it. Appendix E of the manual lists documentation of graduate placement categorization among the required student records. Records are kept for a minimum of three years after the end of the institution's most recent fiscal year during which the students were last enrolled.
ABHES also asks programs to show they help graduates get hired. Standard V.G.2 requires that evidence of career services efforts be maintained, such as career fairs, resume workshops, mock interviews, job leads and employer outreach. The Program Effectiveness Plan then carries the placement rate for the previous two years and the current year, an analysis of trends, and a placement goal for the next reporting year.
The 70% benchmark and what follows below it
Section III.A.11.d says failure to demonstrate at least 70% retention, placement or applicable credentialing rates for each program, using the ABHES formula, raises a question whether accreditation requirements are being met. The minimum response is an action plan showing the institution analyzed the situation and acted. Surgical Technology programs must also show 100% credentialing participation before graduation.
The Annual Report action plan answers three questions.
- Why does the institution believe the rate is below benchmark? Include an analysis of the trends affecting it.
- What activities is the institution taking to improve the rate, on what timeline for implementation and reassessment, and when does it plan to reach compliance?
- What supporting documentation backs up the plan?
Verification is part of the standard. The manual says the Commission may withdraw accreditation if it finds retention, credentialing or placement rates below 70%, or if the rate reported on an Annual Report is unverifiable. Document quality is as important to a program as the number itself.
Annual Report timeline
| Item | Date or rule |
|---|---|
| Reporting period | July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 |
| Due | 5:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, November 3, 2026 |
| Sustaining fee | A report is late if the sustaining fee is not received by 5:00 p.m. ET on November 3, 2026 |
| Delinquency | $2,500 annual report delinquency fee for a late filing or fee |
| Escalation | A show-cause directive may be issued if the submission is still incomplete 10 days after the due date |
| Follow-up | Correspondence on submitted rates comes from [email protected], so allow that address through your email filters |
ABHES also adopted manual revisions effective January 1, 2027, announced in an August 10, 2026 bulletin. The bulletin focuses on Chapters II and III and the retention calculation. We did not find a change to the placement formula, but review the revisions before the 2026-2027 period closes.
Steps to prepare for November 3
- List every graduate by program for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Include all who completed every requirement, whenever they enrolled.
- Categorize each graduate. Placed, not placed or placed out of field, or unavailable, with the reason.
- Check the 15-day rule. For each placed graduate, confirm the start date and that the confirmation came at least 15 days later.
- Complete the Backup Documentation Form. Add rationale files for title mismatches, same-employer graduates, self-employed graduates and unavailable graduates.
- Run the program templates. One .xlsx per program, with no error status in cell B3.
- Write action plans for any rate below 70%. Use the three questions above.
- Submit with the sustaining fee. One report per campus, confirmed by email.
Common mistakes
- Counting waiver graduates as unavailable. A signed waiver does not remove a graduate from the calculation.
- Confirming employment too early. The confirmation must come at least 15 days after the job begins.
- Placing a title mismatch without rationale. A different job title needs a written reason and supporting document.
- Using attestations without a campus policy. The policy to verify the attestation is part of the standard.
- Combining campuses. Each main and non-main campus files its own report and fee.
- Classing continuing high school as continuing education. It does not qualify as unavailable.
Most of these are collection gaps. The graduate had a job, but nobody recorded the start date, the second confirmation, or the reason the title looked different. Building those prompts into outreach from the first contact is where career work can be integrated into the program.
How Prentus helps
Prentus is the career outcomes platform. Students use one platform from day one until they are hired, and the same record feeds the outcomes your team reports. Prentus runs an automatic monthly LinkedIn scan plus dozens of third-party sources that verify employment. AI reviews those sources and surfaces what it believes are legitimate outcomes, and your staff confirm each one. First-destination surveys go out by email and SMS, and surveys you already run can be migrated in.
Your team still completes the ABHES templates and the Backup Documentation Form, and keeps the employer and graduate confirmations the standard asks for. What changes is the starting point, because staff open each file with a dated, sourced lead. See Prentus for career schools, the Workforce Pell placement measure, and our guide to job placement software for colleges and career schools. For other accreditors and states, read our guides to the ACCSC annual report, ACCSC employment verification and the BPPE annual report and placement rate.
Primary sources
- ABHES Accreditation Manual, 19th Edition (effective February 1, 2026), Standard V.I.1.d, Section III.A.11, Appendix E
- ABHES 2025-2026 Annual Report Guidebook
- ABHES bulletin, Final Revisions to the Accreditation Manual effective January 1, 2027
This guide is general information, not accreditation advice. Confirm current requirements with ABHES before you file.
