The visit is scheduled for late September, with the group's final report and a decision expected by November. The review is part of the voluntary accreditation process, which Naval Submarine School completed in 1994. At that time, the school was one of the first training facilities in the Navy to receive accreditation. At that time the school received the maximum, for a first review, of five years accreditation. This time, the school can seek accreditation for up to 10 years, and school officials are confident that the submarine school will achieve it.
Accreditation validates a school's programming and demonstrates the school meets a set of standards.
It was one of the considerations in a decision by the American Council on Education to allow college credit for many of the courses offered at the school. Sub School enrolls more than 2,800 students a year in technical classes such as navigation, maintenance, machining, hydraulics, refrigeration, electronics, fire control, and radio operation.