University Quality Indicators: a Critical Assessment
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DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT B: STRUCTURAL AND COHESION POLICIES CULTURE AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY QUALITY INDICATORS: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT STUDY This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education AUTHORS Bernd Wächter (ACA) Maria Kelo (ENQA) Queenie K.H. Lam (ACA) Philipp Effertz (DAAD) Christoph Jost (DAAD) Stefanie Kottowski (DAAD) RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Mr Miklós Györffi Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Lyna Pärt LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: [email protected] Manuscript completed in April 2015. © European Parliament, 2015. Print ISBN 978-92-823-7864-9 doi: 10.2861/660770 QA-02-15-583-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-823-7865-6 doi: 10.2861/426164 QA-02-15-583-EN-N This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT B: STRUCTURAL AND COHESION POLICIES CULTURE AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY QUALITY INDICATORS: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT STUDY Abstract The ‘Europe 2020 Strategy’ and other EU initiatives call for more excellence in Europe’s higher education institutions in order to improve their performance, international attractiveness and competitiveness. In this context the relevance of quality in higher education gained momentum. The Study examines separately two different quality approaches, quality assurance and rankings, and takes stock of latest achievements. This is followed by a critical analysis of these approaches in a comparative perspective. Recommendations and policy options for the Parliament are provided. IP/B/CULT/FWC/2010-001/LOT1/C1/SC3 April 2015 PE 563.377 EN University quality indicators: a critical assessment ____________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 LIST OF TABLES 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 1. INTRODUCTION 15 2. METHODOLOGY 17 3. QUALITY EVALUATION AND ASSURANCE SYSTEMS 23 3.1. European context for external quality assurance 23 3.2. Comparative assessment of external quality assurance systems 28 3.3. Consequences of external quality assurance 36 3.4. Challenges and trends in external quality assurance 41 3.5. Conclusions 46 4. RANKING SYSTEMS 49 4.1. Growing importance of global university rankings 49 4.2. Institutional framework and methods of ranking systems 50 4.3. Impacts of rankings 61 4.4. Conclusions 66 5. CONVERGENCE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE AND RANKING? 69 5.1. Differences between quality assurance and rankings 70 5.2. Interrelation of quality assurance and rankings 73 6. RECOMMENDATIONS 75 REFERENCES 79 ANNEX 1 LIST OF PERSONS INTERVIEWED ANNEX 2 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE ANNEX 3 COUNTRY LEVEL ANALYSIS QUALITY ASSURANCE ANNEX 4: RANKING RELATED INFORMATION 3 Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 University quality indicators: a critical assessment ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAC-DEVA Andalusian Agency of Knowledge, Department of Evaluation and Accreditation AACSB Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business AAQ Swiss Agency for Accreditation and Quality Assurance ABEST21 Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow ABET Inc. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ACA Academic Cooperation Association ACQUIN Accreditation, Certifictation and Quality Assurance Institute ACSR Accredited Customer Service Representative ACSUCYL Quality Assurance Agency for the University System in Castilla y León ACSUG Agency for Quality Assurance in the Galician University System AHPGS Akkreditierungsagentur im Bereich Gesundheit und Soziales [German Accreditation Agency] AKAST Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Canonical Programmes of Studies in Germany AMBA Association of MBAs ANECA National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation of Spain ANQA National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance [Armenian quality assurance agency] APQN Asia-Pacific Quality Network AQ Austria Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria AQAS Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes AQU Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency ARACIS Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance ARWU Academic Ranking of World Universities ASHE Agency for Science and Higher Education ASIIN Verein zur Akkreditierung von Studiengängen der Ingenieurwissenschaften, Informatik und Naturwissenschaften [German accreditation agency] 5 Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies ____________________________________________________________________________________________ BASis Banco Nacional de Avaliadores BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills BGU US News & World Report’s Best Global Universities BMBF Federal Ministry of Education and Research CAPES (Brazilian) Ministry of Education’s Graduate Education Department CEA Certified Evaluation and Accreditation System CEENQA Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education cf. confer CHE Centre for Higher Education CHEA Council for Higher Education Accreditation CIQG CHEA International Quality Group CONAES Brazilian National Higher Education Evaluation Committee CPC Preliminary Course Programme Score CROHO Centraal Register Opleidingen Hoger Onderwijs [Dutch Central Register og Higher Education Programmes] DAAD German Academic Exchange Service e.g. exempli gratia EACEA Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency ECA European Consortium for Accreditation in Higher Education ECCE European Council on Chiropractic Education ECTS European Credit Transfer System EEA European Economic Area EFMD European Foundation for Management Development EHEA European Higher Education Area ENADE Exame Nacional de Desempenho de Estudantes [National Student Performance Exam, Brazil] ENAEE European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education ENIC European Network of Information Centres in the European Region 6 University quality indicators: a critical assessment ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ENQA European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education EP European Parliament EQANIE European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education EQAR European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESG European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area ESU European Students’ Union etc. et cetera EU European Union EUA European University Association EUR-ACE European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Programmes EURASHE European Association of Institutions in Higher Education evelag Evaluationsagentur Baden-Württemberg [German Accreditation Agency] FIBAA Quality Assurance Agency in Germany, Austria and Switzerland FINEEC Finnish Education Evaluation Center FINHEEC Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council FL Flanders FT Financial Times MBA ranking FTE Full-time equivalent GAC German Accreditation Council Guardian Guardian University Guide HE Higher Education HEI(s) Higher Education Institution(s) HRK German Rectors’ Conference i.e. id est ibid. ibidem IGC General Course Index 7 Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies ____________________________________________________________________________________________ INEP National Institute of Educational Studies and Research INQAAHE International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education IQA Internal quality assurance IREG International Ranking Expert Group ITA Institutional Thematic Assessments JACA Japan Association for College Accreditation JIHEE Japan Institution for Higher Education Evaluation JUAA Japanese University Accreditation Association KMK Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany Leiden CWTS Leiden Ranking MEC Brazilian Ministry of Education and Culture MEXT Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology MOOC Massive Open Online Course MSES Ministry of Science, Education and Sports MULTRA Multilateral Agreement on the Mutual Recognition of Accreditation Results regarding Joint Programmes n.d. No date NACIQI National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity NARIC National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union NCES National Center for Education Statistics NEAA National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency Bulgaria NIAD-UE Japanese National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation NL The Netherlands NOQA Nordic Quality Assurance Network in Higher Education NQF National Qualifications Framework NUCE Japanese National University Corporation Evaluation NVAO Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders 8 University quality indicators: