Accreditation of higher education institutions in Switzerland

The Higher Education Act (HEdA) came into effect on 1 January 2015. It establishes the legal basis for national coordination of higher education policy in Switzerland and lays the foundation for quality assurance, accreditation and funding. Henceforth, any institutions wishing to use the reserved designations ‘university’, ‘university of applied sciences’, ‘university of teacher education’ or derived titles such as ‘university college’ or ‘UAS college’ must obtain institutional accreditation. Institutional accreditation is also a prerequisite for federal subsidies under HEdA.

Competent bodies

The Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ) is responsible for the accreditation procedure. It is independent and uses internationally recognised methods. Its evaluations focus on the quality assurance systems at higher education institutions, which are assessed by external experts. The Swiss Accreditation Council (SAR) makes the final decision and accreditation remains valid for a period of seven years. In addition to the national agency AAQ, the SAR may also recognise other Swiss or foreign agencies provided they satisfy HEdA requirements. In Switzerland, five other agencies are authorised to carry out accreditation procedures, including some from Germany and Austria: ACQUIN, AHPGS, AQ Austria, evalag and FIBAA.

Not all higher education institutions have been accredited

Private higher education institutions that do not wish to use the reserved designations under HEdA are not subject to the accreditation obligation. However, all public higher education institutions, i.e. those run by the Confederation and the cantons, must be accredited. Here, it is important that the institutions in question offer research and teaching as a consolidated package, so to speak. If the institution is only active in one of these two areas, institutional accreditation will not be granted. With regard to the use of other designations, higher education institutions and other institutions within the higher education sector are subject to cantonal legislation. The cantons may also introduce more restrictive regulations, for example, requiring accreditation in order to make use of other designations.