Following approval from the U.S. Department of Education (effective July 10), the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) is the official national accrediting agency for the massage and bodywork profession. (Editor's note: See "U.S. Department of Education to Approve COMTA as National Accrediting Agency" in the July 2002 issue of Massage Today, available online at www.massagetoday.com/archives/2002/06/01.html.)

COMTA joins accrediting bodies for chiropractic (Council on Chiropractic Education's Commission on Accreditation), acupuncture (Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) and osteopathy (American Osteopathic Association) as the only agencies approved by the USDE to accredit programs that train practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).