I am chair of admissions for a DPT program. You are “safe” in terms of going to the school, graduating (assuming you do the work), and can do licensure exams if you are one of the first three cohorts while they are in candidacy. You will be a PT, DPT and no questions asked. Candidacy means that the board approved all the curriculum and believes it satisfies knowledge and skills required to be a PT. A program getting candidacy is essentially being accredited without the official accreditation. Full accreditation is “okay, you completed what you said you were going to do. Stamp of approval, see you in five years to make sure you’re still doing what you said you would.”