The National Standards for Diabetes Self Management Education and Support in the United States have recently been updated and published. These 10 standards are the base for quality diabetes education and set the bar by which education programs may be measured. The standards are evidence based and updated every five years by a multidisciplinary group representing major diabetes organizations including the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators. During this session, insights will be shared from the perspective of my role as co-chair of the committee and also as member of the panel that developed the review criteria for measuring the implementation of the standards as well as the audit process. The importance of broad application of the guidelines will be emphasized so that interpretation is not exclusionary as so the minimum standards can be achieved by as many diabetes education programs as possible.