Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation Implementation in Several Countries across the World and Lessons Learned for Vietnam

Abstract

Quality assurance and accreditation in higher education has been implemented in many countries across the world with the main purposes of quality control, quality improvement and accountability. This paper aims to synthesize and analyze quality assurance and accreditation policies and practices in Australia, the U.S. and several other countries in Europe and Asia to propose recommendations for Vietnam. Employing the method of document analysis, the study reviewed scholarly papers and scientific reports discussing the implementation of quality assurance and accreditation in many higher education systems across the world. The results showed that quality assurance and accreditation activities were diverse ranging from institutional accreditation to program accreditation, from voluntary to compulsory accreditation, and from fitness-for-purpose approaches to standard-based approaches. These findings were used to compare and contrast the emerging quality assurance and accreditation system of Vietnam and make recommendations for its future development.