Accreditation by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) was a long-held dream of the Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Unit at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. After more than 6 decades of preparing FCS students for life and the workplace, the FCS Unit resolutely began the journey to the coveted and honored…

During the 15 years that "Quality in Higher Education" has held a focal position in the field of higher education assessment, the concept of quality has evolved from a debatable and controversial concept to an everyday matter in higher education. The author takes a personal look into the development of the field by first tracking the discursive…

This paper reflects on what we have learned about how quality has been received in higher education. The complexity of quality policy in terms of implementation is noted, as is the importance of front-line academics as policy users. The "formal" and "situated" meanings of quality are considered and the importance of context is emphasised. It is…

The paper is a reflection on the pasts and futures of quality assurance in higher education. It poses questions about the correlation between the geographical and political spread of quality assurance on the one hand and the resulting educational benefits on the other; about the divergences between critics and practitioners on the likely impacts…

In this article, the authors discuss the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs' (CACREP) role in furthering the specialty of addiction counseling. After sharing a brief history and the role of counselor certification and licensure, the authors share the process whereby CACREP developed the first set of…

This article discusses the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF). An observation about the MQF is that in the particular context of developments in Malaysian education and training and its economic and social context, all roads have led to standards and quality assurance. This is the view expressed by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA)…

This paper speculates on the possible contribution of the quality movement to higher education and the perceived dividends received from this, in general, over the past two decades but also, more specifically, with reference to the author's institution in South Africa. The first major quality contribution is a gradual broadening of higher…

Twenty years ago, the federal government in the US first required institutional accrediting organisations, America's principal mechanism for quality assurance in higher education, to review institutional practices with respect to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Much that affects quality assurance has changed in the ensuing two decades…

The analysis begins with a comprehensive overview of legal provisions for student participation in higher education governance over the past few decades. How has the involvement of students in decision-making processes developed? The answer will be provided for the sub-institutional level of faculties and degree programmes; the institutional…

The article discusses the question of student participation in higher education governance at the national and the institutional levels in Norway. Two ideal-type perspectives on governance are developed in order to illuminate the Norwegian case: a democratic perspective and a market perspective. The article provides a brief overview of the…

At the beginning of the last 20 years so-called "quality revolution" it was expected from most of the established national quality agencies that internal quality systems and the development of an internal quality culture would emerge automatically in the HEI from the external quality impact. The author argues that a better balance must be found…

Further education (FE) colleges in England were statutorily "cut free" from local education authority (LEA) control in 1992. This article, however, primarily considers changes within FE in the 30 years before this "incorporation" of FE colleges, as well as debates that followed. It argues that the post-1992 changes were…

The article first considers a characterization of higher education in Latin America, the principal problems and the scenarios that have led to the inclusion of quality assessment and accreditation processes in higher education as a priority in the regional agenda. The following aspects are then developed from a comparative perspective: the main…

Both the US and European higher education systems have long histories of transatlantic cooperation, a tradition that it is important to preserve and enhance even in the context of increased competition and important systemic reforms in both North America and Europe. The Bologna Process has led to several systemic reforms in European higher…

Institutional research (IR) in Latin America is experiencing dramatic growth due, in no small measure, to the need for quality assurance in educational institutions developing trained workforces for emerging economies. Quality can be assured only where it can be measured, and that is at the core of institutional research in countries to the south…