Quality Assurance Agencies for Higher Education
Key Resource, February 2004
The following is an introduction to selected national and international organisations dealing with quality assurance in higher education. A brief description of each organisation is provided, including publications and other information made available free online.
National Initiatives
Australia
Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA)
The AUQA is a national agency that promotes, audits, and reports on quality assurance in Australian higher education. AUQA was formally established by Australia’s Ministerial Council on Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in March 2000. AUQA is owned by and receives core, operational funding from the Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for higher education who are members of MCEETYA. Nonetheless, the organisation maintains strict independence from government and higher education institutions. Documents available include an ‘Audit Manual’ for preparing and conducting academic audits, ‘Audit Reports’ (including information on international partnerships/offshore campuses), and a ‘Good Practice Database’. The database covers a range of topics (eg support services, curriculum, internationalisation).
Canada
Association of Canadian Universities and Colleges (AUCC)
The AUCC represents 92 Canadian public and private not-for-profit universities and university-degree level colleges. Founded in 1911, its main mandate is to facilitate the development of public policy on higher education and to encourage cooperation among universities and governments, industry, communities and institutions in other countries. In an effort to do so, it provides services in the three main areas of public policy and advocacy, communications, research and information-sharing and scholarships and international programmes. The AUCC regularly publishes a series of publications to keep its members up-to-date on postsecondary issues and trends in Canada, most of which are available on its website.
The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE)
The CBIE is a national, bilingual, not-for-profit, membership organisation dedicated to the promotion of Canada's international relations through international education: the free movement of ideas and learners across national boundaries. CBIE's activities comprise scholarship management, civil society and public sector reform, research and information services, advocacy, training programs, professional development for international educators and other services for members and learners.
India
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
The NAAC is an autonomous institution established by the India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1994. NAAC's primary agenda is to assess and accredit institutions of higher learning and promote quality. The website provides a list (searchable by state) and individual reports for all institutions that have been accredited by the NAAC. Each institutional review outlines curriculum, teaching methodology, research capacity, infrastructure, learning resources, and organisation management amongst other criteria.
The All India Council on Technical Education (AICTE) is another Indian regulatory body, but more specifically geared towards the planning and co-ordination of the technical education sector. The AICTE, established under the AICTE Act 1987, gives approval to technical higher learning institutions and new programs based on the credibility of institutional management and programme providers, compliance to a set of norms and standards, and market sensitivity of program output, to avoid imbalance in the supply of a qualified labour force. Approved programs and institutions accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), a sub-body of the AICTE, are listed on the AICTE website, along with regulatory requirements, and a few examples of model curriculum for program approval (e.g. Model Curriculum for Undergraduate Programme BE/BTech in Electrical Engineering).
Singapore
Singapore Quality Class for Private Education Organisations (SQC for PEOs)
SQC for PEOs is a joint initiative of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and SPRING Singapore (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board). Established in February 2003 the regulatory body is targeted at the more than 300 private commercial, IT, fine arts and language schools operating in Singapore. To encourage PEOs to meet SQC status the government offers successful applicants a package of benefits such as facilitation support from government agencies, faster foreign student application processing, and promotion in overseas markets. The Singapore Spring website lists application guidelines, pre-qualification requirements, benchmarks, and a list of institutions that have achieved SQC for PEO status.
South Africa
Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC)
HEQC is a permanent sub-committee of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in South Africa, formed due to regulatory concerns expressed in the South African Higher Education Act in 1997. HEQC’s goal is to promote quality assurance in higher education, audit the quality assurance mechanisms of higher education institutions, and accredit higher education programmes. The publications portion of the website site provides access to free downloads such as the ‘Directory of ETQAs and Professional Bodies’ (a compendium of the various South African organisations with quality assurance responsibility), and ‘HEQC: Programme Accreditation Framework’ (detailing South African accreditation procedures).
United Kingdom
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
The QAA aims to promote public confidence that the quality of provision and standards of awards in UK higher education are being safeguarded and enhanced. Established in 1997 the QAA is an independent body funded by subscriptions from universities and colleges of higher education, and through contracts with the main UK higher education funding bodies. The QAA publish full text online review reports, audit reports of collaborative international links, and related documents. Documents are classified at both ‘Institutional’ and ‘Subject’ level.
United States
American Council on Education (ACE)
The American Council on Education (ACE) is a national organisation which represents presidents and chancellors of all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions: community colleges and four-year institutions, private and public universities, and nonprofit and for-profit colleges. This cross-sector membership enables ACE to serve as higher education's unifying voice. Founded in 1918, ACE aims to provide leadership and a unified voice on key higher education issues through advocacy, research and innovative programs. More than 1,800 campus executives are represented by its activities, as are leaders of higher education - related associations and organisations.
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
CHEA is a private, non-profit national organisation that co-ordinates accreditation activity in the United States. CHEA brings together the range of regional and specialist accreditation agencies concerned with higher education. Formed in 1996 and with approximately 3000 institutional members CHEA is the largest accreditation collective in the US. (Accreditation in US higher education is a collegial process of self-review and peer review for improvement of academic quality and public accountability of institutions and programs.) The CHEA website provides free access to the following resources : ‘CHEA Chronicle’, a short publication with articles and survey results on accreditation, ‘CHEA Fact Sheets’ on a range of practices such as the role of accreditation in distance learning, the ‘Database of Institutions Accredited by Recognized United States Accrediting Organizations’ searchable by state or institution, and the ‘International Database of Higher Education Quality Assurance Agencies and Accrediting Organisations’.
Regional/International Initiatives
Europe
The European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)
ENQA was established (March 2000) to promote European co-operation in this field. Membership of the Network is open to quality assurance agencies, public authorities responsible for quality assurance in higher education and associations of higher education institutions in the European Union. The role of ENQA is to disseminate information, experience, good practice and highlight new developments. ENQA publishes selected reports online (e.g. ‘Benchmarking in Higher Education’ and ‘Transnational European Evaluation Project’). The list of ENQA members is a good introduction to a wide range of European quality assurance bodies. INQAAHE (International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education) is a similar body, but with global membership.
International
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, is an agency which serves as a 'clearinghouse' for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge in the fields of education, science, culture and communication. The mission of the UNESCO Education Sector is to (i)provide international leadership for creating learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations; and (ii) provide expertise and foster partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all. Alongside conferences, seminars and workshops, UNESCO publishes a series of documents on quality assurance, including guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education.
The International Association of Universities (IAU)
Based at UNESCO, the IAU is a worldwide association of higher education institutions, founded in and based at UNESCO with membership across 150 countries. Founded in 1950, it brings together international institutions and organisations for reflection and action on common concerns and collaborates with various international, regional and national bodies active in higher education. Its services are available on the priority basis to Members but also to organisations, institutions and authorities concerned with higher education, as well as to individual policy and decision-makers, specialists, administrators, teachers, researchers and students.
International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)
The ICDE is a global membership organisation of educational institutions, national and regional associations, corporations, educational authorities and agencies in the fields of open learning, distance education, and flexible, lifelong learning. ICDE is a non-governmental organisation authorised by the United Nations to serve as the ‘Global Membership Organisation in Open Distance and E-learning’. ICDE has operated as a distance learning organisation since 1938, and began collaboration with UNESCO in the 1960s. From 2003, ICDE has offered “international accreditation and quality evaluation” of distance and virtual institutions.
Nordic Countries
Nordic Quality Assurance Network in Higher Education
This organisation is composed of representatives from the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) and serves as a forum for their respective quality assurance agencies to discuss common issues. Although meeting informally for over ten years, the Nordic Quality Assurance Network in Higher Education was formally established in 2003. The organisation facilitates collaboration between countries with common cultural ties and historically similar systems of quality assurance. Projects initiated during the annual meeting are later published on the website (e.g. survey on quality assurance in the Nordic higher education - accreditation-like practices). All five members are participants in the larger Europe-wide ENQA (see above).
The Netherlands & Belgium
Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie (NVAO)
The Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation is an independent organisation that assures the quality of higher education institutions in The Netherlands and Flanders. The NVAO achieves its mission, by: (i) the accreditation of programmes offered by higher education institutions, (ii) the initial accreditation of programmes that are not yet offered and/or registered, (iii) the contribution towards stressing the distinctive features of programmes or institutions by assessing the specific quality features at the request of institutions, (iv) the advancement of both the European and the international dimension in Dutch and Flemish accreditation and maintaining international contacts in order to reach agreement and cohesion, (v) undertaking other tasks commissioned by the Dutch-Flemish Committee of Ministers, and (iv) contributing to the public debate on the developments in higher education within the scope of NVAO's primary tasks.