Under the Part 61 regs a spinning activity endorsement is a prerequisite for a grade 3 training endorsement (aeroplanes). See table 61.1235.
As mentioned earlier, it depends on the individual aircraft's c of a and flight manual as to whether you can spin the aircraft. The C172 isn't a good aircraft for spin training, C150/152 , Robin, Citabria/Decathlon are all ok. If you want a text book spin recovery aeroplane you can't go past the DeHavilland Chipmunk. The Chippy will not recover unless you do all of the proper things.