The state licensing board for my profession requires RA if one is going to advertise or hold oneself out as a Ph.D. Understand, a PhD is not required for licensure in the profession but if obtained, the state requires it be from a RA institution in order to use it. My question is if the school has preliminary or candidacy RA status, do you think this would be acceptable to state licensing boards?
Your best bet is to just contact the state licensing boards directly. I imagine that *MOST*, but certainly not all, states have very specific rules when it comes to the utility/acceptance of degrees, particularly those with no current recognized accreditation (despite the fact that they may have candidacy, there are still unaccredited for the time being). Case in point, the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization.
The fact that the Higher Education Directory (which I find to be the most comprehensive and reliable source of info on GAAP schools) includes schools with candidacy from a regional accreditor in the directory (albeit with an asterisk) is one reminder of the level of acceptability of this status.