Accreditation in Austria

AQ Austria is the national quality assurance agency for Austrian universities of applied sciences and private university colleges. It carries out both institutional accreditations and accreditations of study programs. These procedures form the basis for state recognition of universities and their course offerings.

Our work is based on the Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education (HS-QSG), the University of Applied Sciences Act (FHG), and the Private Higher Education Act (PrivHG). The specific criteria and procedures are laid out in the Accreditation Decree of Universities of Applied Sciences and the Accreditation Decree on Private Higher Education. All procedures comply with ESG standards and follow the principle of peer review.

The Board of AQ Austria decides on accreditations based on the established rules and taking into account the specific characteristics of each application. It recognizes the specific requirements of all applications and may decide for each procedure to provide for an external review with an on-site visit, a written experts' report, or to waive an external review. If it is apparent from the application documents, the Board may also focus an external review on specific criteria. The procedures are coordinated and supervised by a member of the secretariat.

Universities of applied sciences

For universities of applied sciences, the following applies: After a one-time extension of accreditation, they are not subject to any further institutional accreditation requirements. However, after an uninterrupted twelve-year accreditation period, they must undergo a periodic audit. AQ Austria can also be commissioned to carry out such audits (audit). Before starting new study programmes, universities of applied sciences require programme accreditation.

Private university colleges | Private universities

For private university colleges and private universities, the following applies: Initial reaccreditation is initially limited to six years. After that, the Board of AQ Austria may decide to extend the accreditation period from six to twelve years. Private university colleges and private universities require program accreditation before starting new degree programs.

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