ShareAQU Catalunya updates its “Guide to the Accreditation of Foreign Institutions”
Between 2022 and 2025, the Agency will assess at least six institutions, exceeding the total number of assessments conducted in the previous 10 years.
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In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of applications for the assessment of institutions wishing to teach courses leading to qualifications awarded by foreign institutions that currently cannot be validated as recognised degrees in Catalonia, with a view to their being approved by the Government of Catalonia. Between 2022 and 2024, the Agency assessed three foreign institutions, and in 2024, we began the assessments of three more institutions, which will be completed in 2025. Given that AQU Catalunya only assessed two foreign institutions in the 10 years between 2011 and 2021, these latest figures represent a substantial gearing up of the Agency’s approach to these types of assessments. AQU Catalunya assesses foreign institutions that apply to the Government of Catalonia’s Ministry of Research and Universities for authorisation to offer recognised degrees awarded under other legal systems.
In this context, AQU Catalunya has updated its Guide to the Assessment of Foreign Institutions, for universities and colleges that offer university studies or higher education courses similar to university degrees under foreign education systems. The new edition revises the previous edition issued in 2022. Specifically, the legal framework has been updated by eliminating references to the Organic Law on Universities 6/2001, which has been repealed. The revised guide also states that the Specific Commission for Institutional Assessment (CEAI), which reports to the Institutional and Programme Review Commission (CAIP), will be responsible for drawing up and approving external assessment reports. Finally, the review process has been improved with the addition of a factual error review phase, and the deadline for the institution to submit its in-house report and evidence has been changed to 10 days.
A favourable report is crucial
The increasing internationalisation of higher education means that a growing number of transnational degree programmes are being implemented in Catalonia. AQU Catalunya is the only public body authorised to assure the quality of the institutions offering these types of courses. Under Law 1/2003 of 19 February 2003 on Catalan universities (LUC), the ministry responsible for universities is empowered to authorise teaching institutions wishing to offer courses leading to qualifications awarded by foreign institutions that currently cannot be validated as recognised degrees in Catalonia. One of the prerequisites for this process is a favourable report from AQU Catalunya. Institutions that teach degrees that have obtained a favourable report are deemed to be trustworthy. The results of these assessments can be consulted here.
AQU Catalunya has also created a page on its website to help students and their families differentiate between the quality of the available degree programmes and the institutions that offer them. You can find it here.