Quality assurance
May 11, 2011
Higher education in Holland enjoys a worldwide reputation for its high quality. This is achieved through a national system of regulation and quality assurance.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) is responsible for legislation pertaining to education. See also www.qa-in.nl. Responsibility for accreditation has been allocated to the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). Students will be awarded recognized degrees only after completing an accredited degree programme. Accredited programmes will be listed in the Central Register of Higher Education Programmes (CROHO). Only degree programmes can be accredited by the NVAO: programmes and courses leading to a Certificate or a Diploma cannot be accredited by the NVAO and are the responsibility of the institutions concerned. Institutions may also offer bachelor’s, master’s or other programmes that have been accredited not by the NVAO, but by a body in another country. In these cases, the degree may be recognized in that country, but not necessarily in Holland. An example would be a master’s programme offered by a Dutch university of applied sciences that has been validated by an accredited British university that awards the degree. In the database of international programmes and courses the status of each individual programme is indicated by icons. Degree programmes lead to bachelor’s, master’s or PhD degrees. The system of accreditation in higher education aims to guarantee that study programmes meet the highest standards. Dutch law (the Higher Education and Research Act) requires that all degree programmes offered by research universities and universities of applied sciences be evaluated against a specific set of criteria. Bachelor’s and master’s programmes that meet these criteria are accredited by the NVAO (i.e. officially recognized). PhD programmes are the responsibility of individual universities and cannot be accredited by the NVAO. A specialized course does not lead to a degree, but to a certificate or diploma. As these courses do not lead to a bachelor’s or master’s degree, they cannot be submitted for accreditation by the NVAO. The fact that a specialized course has not been accredited does not mean that it does not meet quality criteria. The quality of specialized courses that are part of an accredited master’s programme is assured through the accreditation of the main programme. The quality of other types of specialized courses is the responsibility of the institutions themselves.Accreditation and quality control
Accreditation by foreign bodies
Accreditation of degree programmes
Quality control of specialized courses