Institutional accreditation: HES-SO and HEP Vaud accredited

In its meeting of 22 March 2019 the Swiss Accreditation Council granted accreditation to two higher education institutions. The Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale HES-SO was accredited as university of applied sciences, whereas the Haute école pédagogique du canton de Vaud (HEP Vaud) was accredited as university of teacher education.

The procedural reports, including the analysis and evaluation made by each panel of experts in the external assessments, and the AAQ accreditation recommendations, are published under www.aaq.ch/en/procedural-reports/

Each of the reports and assessments made by the expert group within the scope of the institutional accreditation represents a snapshot: they provide an overview of the quality assurance system and an appraisal of standards with due consideration for the type of higher education institution and its specific profile. The reports do not therefore create a basis for a qualitative or quantitative comparison between the quality assurance systems of universities.

The Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector (HEdA) dated 30 September 2011 stipulates that institutional accreditation is a prerequisite for receiving the right to use the designation pursuant to Art. 29 HEdA and for being recognised as eligible for contributions pursuant to Art. 45 HEdA. This applies to all public and private universities as well as other institutions in the higher education sector. The accreditation decisions for all HEdA procedures are made by the Swiss Accreditation Council.