International and public accreditation

International accreditation

International accreditation is a process of evaluation and recognition of higher education programmes (or educational institutions) against criteria and requirements of international, foreign or Russian organizations1, which are members of international associations2. The term «international accreditation» is used in the indicators of the National project «Education», the priority project of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation «Development of Export Capacity of the Russian Educational System», and the Programme for Strategic Academic Leadership of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, which is currently being developed and discussed; the term is also used in the development programmes of the federal universities in order to enhance cooperation and international recognition of the quality of educational programmes delivered by Russian HEIs. One of the priorities of the project «Development of Export Capacity of the Russian Educational System» is enhancing attractiveness and competitiveness of Russian education on the international market of educational services. International accreditation of Russian educational programmes is defined as a mechanism of such recognition

International accreditation is carried out against international standards and requirements approved by an international organization (association) and delivered by an agency officially recognized by such international organization, irrespective of whether the agency is national or foreign. For countries – members of the Bologna process (including Russia) international standards and guidelines for accreditation were approved by the Ministerial Conference in 2005 and were documented in the «Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area» (ESG)3, which was developed by the following international associations:

European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)
European Students’ Union (ESU)
European University Association (EUA)
European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE)

in cooperation with:
Education International (EI)
BUSINESSEUROPE
European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR)

«ESG are designed to be applicable to all higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies in Europe, irrespective of their structure, function and size, and the national system in which they are located…Rather the ESG recognize the primacy of national systems of higher education, the importance of institutional and agency autonomy within those national systems…»4. The guidelines for international accreditation require that the external review panels should include representatives of academic, student and professional communities, as well as foreign experts.

International accreditation can be carried out by accreditation agencies which are full members of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and registered in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR.

Russian higher education institutions which have international accreditation by an agency recognized by ENQA and registered in EQAR have the right to enter accredited programmes and HEIs to the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR)5.

Inclusion of programmes and HEIs in DEQAR confirms their compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG-2015) and is a basis for recognition of accredited programmes and HEIs in the EHEA. 

Joint accreditation

Joint accreditation is one of the forms of international accreditation and is jointly held by a national and a foreign accreditation agency. Such accreditation provides for a unified and agreed accreditation procedure for educational programmes carried out by two accreditation agencies against the European standards and guidelines (ESG). The review is held by one review panel, which comprises experts nominated by partner agencies. The accreditation decision is made independently by the Boards of the partner agencies on the basis of a self-evaluation report and a unified report on external review. In the event of a positive decision, a higher education institution receives two certificates on accreditation of the educational programmes.

Accreditation of joint educational programmes delivered by two higher education institutions from different countries is regulated by the «European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes6» approved at the Ministerial Conference 2015 in Yerevan (Armenia). 

Public accreditation

Public accreditation is evaluation and recognition of the quality of educational programmes against the requirements of educational and professional standards   (if available) and the requirements of the labour market. Public accreditation is carried out by accreditation agencies included in the list of organizations carrying out such accreditation. The list of organizations is compiled in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in compliance with the Order of the Government of 17.04.2017 № 431.

The basis for public accreditation is delivery of educational programmes by a higher educational institution, which are developed and delivered with the account of professional standards. The external review panel involves a representative of the professional community, federal or regional subject-specific ministry (institution), major employer or association of employers. 


Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation", Article 92, Clause 1.2.
Federal state educational standards, section 4.6.4.
The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG-2015)
The European Higher Education Area in 2015: Implementation Report
Database of External Quality Assurance Results (Russia)
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes