The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education Volume 4, Issue 4 ! Higher Education In Portugal: From Expansion To [1] Coimbra University 1 Quality Assessment [email protected] Carlos Sousa Reis[1], Maria Formosinho[2], Cristina Costa Lobo 1 [3] [2] Coimbra University [email protected] ! ,-%!&- After presenting a brief description of the Portuguese higher education [3] Portucalense University 1 evolution, since 1974 to the present day, and providing the indispensable legal framework, we discuss its structure, highlighting the [email protected] actual binary nature that includes universities and polytechnics, public and private. Crucial statistics about the subsystems and the actual study programmes are also given. Finally we present the Portuguese Agency (a.k.a. A3ES) responsible for the assessment and accreditation of the study programmes imparted by Portuguese HEIS. An overview of the work carried out so far by the Agency and its assessment model is also presented. 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