Programme accreditation
Programme accreditation
Programme accreditation
In Lower Saxony, degree programmes must be accredited before they are established or commence operations. In particular, the concept and resources of the degree programme are assessed and compliance with European standards, national and state legal requirements is checked. The accreditation of a degree programme is usually valid for eight years. If accreditation is issued with conditions, evidence of their implementation must generally be provided within nine months.
A BVG decision led to changes in the accreditation system from 2018.
Further information on the accreditation procedure
Accreditations are granted for 8 years, after which degree programmes must be reaccredited. During reaccreditation, the focus of the assessment is on the implementation, success and further development of the degree programme. Quality assurance plays a key role in this: re-registering students and graduates, statistical key figures, etc. provide indications of opportunities for further development of the degree programme and justifications for changes made, which must be documented in the self-evaluation report. Reaccreditations are issued for a period of seven years.
The subject of programme accreditations can be individual degree programmes, consecutive programmes that build on each other (Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes) or several subject-related degree programmes (cluster, package or bundle accreditation). In the accreditation of dual-subject or combined degree programmes such as teaching degree programmes, the basic structure of the degree programmes, the educational science components and other overarching parts of the curricula are assessed first. In the next step, the specialised and didactic parts of the degree programmes are reviewed, e.g. in subject packages.
Accreditation procedure
Accreditation procedures are designed as peer reviews.
The higher education institution applies to an agency approved in Germany for accreditation and submits a self-description (documentation/report) of the degree programme(s).
The agency puts together a group of experts that corresponds to the subject profile and content orientation of the degree programme and is usually made up of two academics, one student and one representative of professional practice.
After the reviewers/peers have received the self-evaluation report, an audit/inspection takes place on site. In various rounds of discussions with the university management and those involved in the degree programme (teachers and students), the peers supplement their impressions from the written documentation. For some agencies, the peers are asked to send a short statement before the audit, indicating which issues will be of particular interest in the audit.
Taking into account the political and legal requirements and criteria (KMK, AR, etc.), the peers prepare an assessment report on which the higher education institution can comment.
Based on the university's self-documentation and the peer assessment report and this statement, the agency decides to accredit the degree programme, to accredit it with conditions, to suspend the procedure or not to accredit it (see also Procedure for accreditation procedures).
For procedures opened in 2018 or later, the university receives an accreditation report with which it must apply for accreditation from the Accreditation Council.
Costs of accreditation procedures
The agencies generally charge the applicant universities between 12,000 and 15,000 euros for a procedure; the size of the expert group and, to a lesser extent, the choice of agency is a significant influencing factor. From a financial point of view, it makes sense to apply for a procedure for several degree programmes. In terms of content, the clusters should not be too large.
For new procedures (see above), an additional 350 euros per partial degree programme must be paid to the Accreditation Council.
For undergraduate and consecutive degree programmes, the costs of accreditation procedures at the University of Oldenburg are generally borne by the Schools and/or Institutes.
Support options in accreditation procedures
The Department for Study Affairs supports programme directors, teaching units and Schools by
- Advising on the design and planning of degree programmes from an organisational perspective
- Providing the current, relevant political and legal guidelines for accreditation procedures
- Formal application to the chosen accreditation agency via the Presidential Board
- Advice on possible cost reductions
- Advice on the preparation of the self-evaluation report
- Accompaniment and support during the ongoing accreditation procedure (contacts with the agency, support in preparing the on-site visit, monitoring deadlines, etc.)
- Application to the Accreditation Council via the Presidential Board