This is the era in which artificial intelligence (AI) has become more prevalent and is increasingly replacing mid-level skills across both the developed and developing worlds (Majumdar et al., forthcoming). This is also the era in which data privacy is becoming more regulated and the ability of the individual to own his or her own data a reality…

Beyond the opportunity of crisis, the climate is favorable for major change in quality review. This report presents five specific steps that can lead to reinventing review of quality in higher education, a post-COVID redesign of accreditation and quality assurance that, if effective, will establish a foundation for the next era of these important…

Human beings are compulsive learners. Strong demographic and economic factors coincide with this natural desire to learn. This current paper focuses on quality aspects of shorter-term educational experiences. What features determine quality? What type of quality reviews would be most suitable? Are accreditation and quality assurance as they have…

This survey and its findings provide a comprehensive look at U.S. recognized institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations and what they report about how they address the challenge of innovation with quality in higher education. Conducted for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) by NORC at the University of Chicago in…

It is a time of disruption, in politics and government, in many national economies and cultures. In the United States, disruption has also penetrated the accreditation space, with debates and differences about student achievement, access and affordability and transparency, topics also challenging quality assurance around the world. Higher…

The world of higher education has been changing rapidly over the last 30 years with the move to mass education due to the needs of the knowledge economy for an appropriately skilled labour force and driven by continuous advances in technology. The purpose of this publication is to provide an overview of how quality assurance (QA) bodies are…

The purpose of this report is to profile a selection of emerging approaches to judging quality in higher education that represent a range of stakeholder interests and perspectives. This report is divided into three sections. "Quality Assurance at a Crossroads" highlights perceived challenges for the U.S. accreditation system in a…

Over decades the collaborative mode and an especially keen sense for the benefits of international cooperation have driven the agenda of individual universities and national higher education systems alike. With the motto "internationalization in times of globalization," a range of positive connotations have entered university policies.…

Academic corruption in its different forms is not a new phenomenon. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has been active in addressing this area for a number of years. In cooperation with UNESCO, it issued an "Advisory Statement on Discouraging Degree Mills" (see ED603204). The document was prepared for the 2009 UNESCO…

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation/International Quality Group (CHEA/CIQG) issued its "International Quality Principles" and an accompanying collection of essays [see ED569216] in May 2015 and January 2016. The "Principles" are presented as a basis for international deliberation of quality in higher education. The…

What is the potential of cross-border accreditation? Will universities go for a first or second opinion abroad? Will foreign reviews replace national assessments? What motivates universities and agencies for this extra work? What about understanding local context? Governments across the globe consider higher education a national public good. State…

Corruption in its many forms is a great threat to the integrity of education and research, not least because it undermines the trust placed in the educational process, devalues academic qualifications and forces the outcomes of research to be questioned. All stakeholders interested in quality and standards carry tacit responsibility for…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Policies and Actions of Accreditation and Quality Assurance Bodies to Counter Corruption in Higher Education." Corruption in its many forms is a great threat to the integrity of education and research, not least because it undermines the trust placed in the educational process, devalues…

Opportunities for corruption are manifold in higher education. They are present during financial transactions (such as grants, subsidies or fellowships), or when contracts of construction or maintenance are attributed. Opportunities for corruption also typically emerge during admission and examination procedures. Malpractices can be related to…

Improving education quality and quality assurance (QA) have become the most distinctive themes of higher education (HE) reform in the 21st century. Although student learning outcomes (SLOs) are the most direct evidence to HE quality and should be an indispensable element and the starting point of education evaluation, in most countries evaluations…