International accreditation of degree programmes

Bi- und multinational degree programmes

The ASIIN General Criteria and the ASIIN Subject-specific Criteria also form the basis for the accreditation of international degree programmes offered jointly by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in different countries.

Due to the special conditions under which international (bi- or multinational) course offers are realised, it is necessary to consider the following aspects:

• In contrast to an evaluation, in a programme accreditation resulting in an application for a quality seal upon positive conclusion, the entire degree programme will be reviewed. A review of individual parts or module groups offered by one of the participating HEIs is not possible.
• For the design of the accreditation procedure it is of importance whether the foreign basic degree programmes – the modules of which may be integrated into an international cooperation – are subject to a recognised external quality assurance procedure.
• The self-assessment for a bi- or multinational must allow for the evaluation of the entire programme thus providing information on all parts and locations.
• The audit by the Audit Team takes place at one of the participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). As a basic rule, it is required to conduct an on-site visit to all participating institutions unless there are valid reasons speaking against it. ASIIN e.V. will not require a review visit to participating HEIs by its Audit Teams if:
  
  
  • The degree programme at the participating HEIs has been accredited by a nationally recognised body within a programme-related accreditation procedure, or
  • The course offer at the participating HEIs is subject to a nationally recognised programme-related external quality assurance procedure, or
  • The course offer at the participating HEIs is subject to an external quality assurance procedure conducted by an agency registered with the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).
    
    If necessary, at least one auditor will visit the partner universities in order to gain an impression of the quality of the corresponding course offer.

Degree programmes based outside of Germany

Degree programmes coordinated by an institution outside of Germany may be accredited with the ASIIN seal when fulfilling the ASIIN quality standards and, where applicable, with further certificates.

The ASIIN General Criteria and the ASIIN Subject-specific Criteria for the accreditation of degree programmes form the basis of the evaluation, whereby the pertinent national and local framework provisions are applied. In return, the parts of the ASIIN General Criteria which are based on the implementation of specific national or regional structural features or are not relevant for another country will not be applied.