The HVACR departments of the Great Oaks Institute of Technology, Cincinnati, OH; the RETS Tech Center, Centerville, OH; the University of Northwestern Ohio, Lima, OH; and the John A. Logan College, Carterville, IL, have received national accreditation through the Partnership for Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA) program. Accreditation from PAHRA certifies that the HVACR programs at these colleges have exceeded industry standards in instruction, curriculum, student, faculty and facility standards set forth by industry in areas of residential air conditioning and heating, light commercial air conditioning and heating, and commercial refrigeration. "This wasn’t an easy feat," says Leslie Sandler, director of education for the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI). "The standards set by professionals from within the industry are very high. PAHRA raised the bar for HVACR programs to achieve excellence, and these schools has proven they are up to the challenge." Sandler serves as executive director of the PAHRA program. PAHRA is validated by representatives from each major HVACR trade association and is available to all training programs, whether they are secondary, post secondary, public or private. It was created to establish national educational standards for accrediting HVACR programs. To become accredited, a training school must first evaluate its own strengths and weaknesses as compared to industry standards and then submit its findings in a self-study report. A survey team then conducts an on-site visit to corroborate the self-study report. Great Oaks Institute of Technology, RETS Tech Center, the University of Northwestern Ohio, and the John A. Logan College join Linn State Technical College and Delaware Technical and Community College as the first schools in the country to receive PAHRA accreditation. Linn State and Delaware Tech received PAHRA accreditation in February. Partnerships in PAHRA include the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), the Gas Appliance Manufacturing Association (GAMA), the North American Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Wholesalers Association (NHRAW), the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC), and the Council of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Educators (CARE).