A review of distance education accreditation policies and standards written by the six United States regional accrediting commissions and two national accrediting organizations: the Middle States Commission on Higher Education; the New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; the North Central…

This article discusses how teaching excellence is prescribed by policy-makers and perceived by higher education institutions in the national competition for teaching excellence ("Wettbewerb Exzellente Lehre") in Germany. Teaching excellence has become an important topic around the world. Its importance can be seen in the increase in…

In "The Convergence of K-12 and Higher Education," two leading scholars of education policy bring together a distinguished and varied array of contributors to systematically examine the growing convergence between the K-12 and higher education sectors in the United States. Though the two sectors have traditionally been treated as…

Establishing institutional effectiveness has beleaguered U.S. higher education institutions for thirty years. One key element of institutional effectiveness is the ability of an organization to use data for effective decision-making. This study provides new insight into this critical component of institutional effectiveness by examining the…

Quality assurance of higher education is made up of two parts: internal quality assurance (IQA) and external quality assurance (EQA). Both belong to a union of the coexistence and balance of yin and yang. But in reality there exists a paradox of "confusion of quality assurance (QA) subject consciousness, singularity of social QA and lack of QA…

In the era of globalization, accountability, and benchmarking, university rankings have achieved a kind of iconic status. The major ones--the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, or the "Shanghai rankings"), the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds Limited) World University Rankings, and the "Times Higher Education" World…

Higher Education Institutions are undergoing important changes involving the development of new roles and missions, with implications for their structure. Governments and institutions are implementing strategies to ensure the proper performance of universities and several studies have investigated evaluation of universities through the development…

Brazil has developed an encompassing system for quality assessment of higher education, the National System of Higher Education Evaluation (SINAES), which includes a test for assessing learning outcomes at the undergraduate level, the National Exam of Student Performance (ENADE). The present system has been running since 2004, and also serves as…

This chapter presents a synthesis of the conceptualization and practice of institutional research (IR) in higher education (HE) in emerging countries across Southern Africa, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. The chapter contextualizes the growing need for IR in these regions, identifies problems and challenges…

Globalization in the 21st century has brought innumerable challenges and opportunities to universities and countries. Universities are primarily concerned with how to ensure the quality of their education and how to boost their local and global competitiveness. The pressure from both international competition and public accountability on…

University rankings have gained popularity around the world, and are now a significant factor shaping reputation. This book is the first comprehensive study of rankings from a global perspective, making an important contribution to our understanding of the rankings phenomenon. (Contains 17 figures, 17 tables and 4 illustrations.)

Romania's education system has made impressive strides over the past two decades, with an increasing share of students mastering the basic competencies that they need for life and work. But these average improvements mask significant disparities in learning outcomes and attainment, with an increasing share of students leaving education early…

Education Scotland's publication, "External Quality Arrangements for Scotland's Colleges, Updated August 2013," specifies that HM Inspectors will produce a number of subject aspect reports over the four-year period 2012-16. This report reviews college admission policies, procedures, and the criteria used when selecting applicants for a…

Purpose: In today's complex and highly competitive marketplace, universities and colleges, realizing a need to develop sustainable strategies, have turned to branding as a solution. However, because of unique service characteristics, universities' branding attempts may not always result in success. The purpose of this paper, utilizing the concept…

In recent years, new higher education regulatory regimes have emerged in both New Zealand and Australia. In Australia, the new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) employs a risk management approach while the New Zealand Quality Agency (NZQA) has adopted an evaluative approach. In practice, these varying approaches create real…