ShareAssessment of foreign institutions in Catalonia
Transnational teaching is one of the variants of the internationalisation of higher education, and assuring their quality is one of AQU Catalunya's functions.
Authorisation process
In accordance with the Law on universities in Catalonia (LUC), the ministry responsible for universities is also responsible for the authorisation of teaching institutions that wish to offer courses leading to degrees awarded by foreign institutions that cannot be recognised as official degrees in Catalonia. One of the requirements of this process is a prior favourable report from AQU Catalunya. AQU Catalunya has therefore drawn up the Guide to the assessment of institutions offering foreign degrees in Catalonia, which has two main features:
- It has been adapted to Royal Decree 640/2021, of 27 July, on the creation, recognition and authorisation of universities and university centres and the institutional accreditation of university centres.
- It harmonises with the institutional assessment processes developed in university centres in Catalonia. Assessment of the centre's potential to adequately deliver the degree programmes is undertaken whilst ensuring it complies with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
The methodology used to assess foreign institutions, based on the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of 1997 on the Recognition and Quality Assessment of Private Institutions of Higher Education, aims to meet the following needs:
- Protect the legal and academic value of higher education qualifications.
- Protect public and private higher education institutions from unfair competition.
- Protect students and families from being attracted to institutions that are not recognised by the higher education system by using elements that lead to biased information.
- Protect employers from hiring people with unrecognised qualifications.
Guide to the assessment of foreign centres (February 2025)
Past assessments
AQU Catalunya accreditations of institutions outside Spain carried out until 2022 were based on the following methodology: Guide to the assessment of institutions offering foreign degrees in Catalonia (October 2016)
Institutions assessed
Assessment report resoult favorable
Toulouse Business School – Barcelona (TBS Barcelona)
External assessment report · Favorable (June 2024)
Toulouse Business School – Barcelona (TBS Barcelona)
European Business School
External assessment report · Favorable (July 2022)
España-Deutschland University Studies (EDU)
EDU España-Deutschland University Studies
External assessment report · Favorable (May 2011)
Assessment report result unfavorable
Sant Cugat Escola Superior de Negocis (ESN)
Informe de evaluación externa · Unfavorable (May 2023)
Institute of the Arts Barcelona (IAB)
External assessment report · Unfavorable (May 2015)