Accreditation, certification and licensure

Three different things, issued by three different bodies. A degree alone does not grant a license.

Three steps, three bodies

Accreditation applies to a program. For entry-level occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) education in the United States the accreditor is ACOTE, the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education.
Certification applies to a person. NBCOT administers the national certification examinations. Eligibility rules are set by NBCOT and can change; check them there.
Licensure applies to practice in a state. Each state, Washington, DC and each territory has its own regulator and rules. Check the licensing board of the state where you intend to work.

Graduating from a program, or being admitted to it, does not guarantee certification eligibility or a license. Verify the current requirements with NBCOT and your state board before you enroll.

What the statuses mean here

We show the status exactly as the accreditor's record words it, with the scope, the published term and the date we checked. The categories we use:

Accredited: the accreditor lists the program as accredited.
Candidate (candidacy), preaccreditation and applicant: the program is developing. These are not full accreditation, and we never describe them as such. Ask the school what the status means for graduates' eligibility.
Inactive, withdrawn or discontinued: the program may not be admitting students.
Not applicable: ACOTE's entry-level accreditation does not apply to the program type (for example post-professional certificates or research degrees). That is not a quality judgment.
Not confirmed: we could not verify the status in an official record.

Accreditation covers a specific program at specific locations, not a whole university. Institutional (regional) accreditation is a different thing and is shown separately.

Different qualifications, different rules

A pre-OT bachelor's degree prepares for later professional study; it does not by itself qualify anyone to practice.
A post-professional degree or certificate is for people who are already OTs or OTAs.
A PhD is a research degree; it is not an entry-level OTD.
An academic certificate is not NBCOT certification and does not make anyone an OT or OTA. Specialty credentials are issued by their own issuers.
OT aide training is a support role and is not OT or OTA preparation.