International Affairs

International networks

The German Accreditation Council has been an active member of the leading European and international quality assurance networks for many years, such as the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE). It is also listed in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Through the involvement of its members and speakers in commissions, expert groups or quality assurance institutions abroad, the Accreditation Council can contribute its expertise internationally and at the same time learn from the experience of its foreign partners.

Accreditation based on European standards

Quality assurance is one of the central instruments for the realization of the European Higher Education Area. Comparable criteria, methods and standards are the basis for the Recognition of degrees and thus for the promotion of transnational mobility. The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education (ESG) have set benchmarks here. The ESG were adopted by the ministers responsible for higher education at the Bologna follow-up conference in Bergen in May 2005 and comprehensively updated at the follow-up conference in Yerevan in 2015. They form the reference framework for internal and external quality assurance and for quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area and also form the basis for the criteria and rules of procedure for the accreditation of study programmes and internal quality management procedures by the Accreditation Council.

Accreditation of joint programmes

For joint programs, the specimen decrees and regulations of the federal states allow the application of the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (European Approach). This was signed by the science ministers of the European Higher Education Area in May 2015; see here. It provides for the possibility of Recognition of assessments by foreign quality assurance agencies for joint programmes, provided that

• These are listed in the European Agency Register EQAR,
• the assessment is carried out in accordance with the accreditation criteria standardized in the European Approach and based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and
• the Agency applies the special rules of procedure laid down in the European Approach.

International projects

EHEA Peer Support

The Accreditation Council is a member of the “Thematic Peer Group C on Quality Assurance”, which was founded by BFUG in 2018 with the aim of promoting mutual support between countries in the European Higher Education Area. From 2022 to 2024, the Accreditation Council was also a member of the working group on microcredentials, which was established as part of the Thematic Peer Group’s umbrella project IMINQA.

Bologna Hub Peer Support

The Accreditation Council is an associated partner in the “Bologna Hub Peer Support” (BHPS) project of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). BHPS aims to support the implementation of key Bologna commitments across the European Higher Education Area through tailored peer learning and guidance. The project “Bologna Hub Peer Support Plus (BHPS+)” builds on the successful peer support approach developed in the predecessor projects “Bologna Hub Peer Support” (2020-2022) and “Bologna Hub Peer Support II” (2022-2024).

European Degree Label Policy Lab

The EU Commission is organizing a “European Degree Label Policy Lab” to develop guidelines and action plans for the introduction of a “European Degree Label” together with national experts and representatives of higher education institutions, quality assurance/accreditation agencies, students and economic and social partners. In addition to representatives of the Federal Government, the Länder and the HRK, a member of the Head Office of the Accreditation Council is also taking part.

International agreements

The Accreditation Council has concluded international agreements with quality assurance institutions in Japan, the USA and Chile. It thus fulfills its Law mandate to promote international cooperation in the field of accreditation and quality assurance (Art. 5 para. 3 no. 3 of the interstate study accreditation treaty).

Certificate of equivalence

The Accreditation Council has concluded a contract with the German Jordanian University (GJU), according to which the Accreditation Council examines whether the study programmes of the GJU meet the criteria of the specimen decree. The accreditation council’s seal is not awarded in this accreditation procedure.