HEdA Accreditation Guidelines
Amended by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 19 May 2022, in force since 1 Aug. 2022 (AS 2022 342).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 8a
The provisions of this Section set out the procedure for first-time accreditation and the first renewal of accreditation.
Art. 8a — Inserted by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 23 Nov. 2017 (AS 2017 7375). Amended by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 19 May 2022, in force since 1 Aug. 2022 (AS 2022 342).
Art. 9 General provisions
1 The object of the accreditation procedure is the quality assurance system of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector. 2 Taking into account their organisational characteristics, higher education institutions or other institutions within the higher education sector shall include in the accreditation procedure all representative groups of the institution, particularly students, mid-level faculty staff, professors and administrative and technical staff. 3 Results of external quality assessments may be taken into account if they are no more than three years old. 4 A Bachelor’s study programme may be accredited with the corresponding consecutive Master’s study programme in the same procedure. 5 Accreditation procedures under HEdA may be carried out with the procedures of other accreditation agencies or organisations if all the quality standards of this Ordinance are thereby taken into consideration. 6 The higher education institution or oth
Para. 7 — Inserted by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 26 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 5929).
Art. 10 Filing of the application and decision on admission
1 For institutional accreditation, the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall file a well-founded application to the Accreditation Council. If the requirements are fulfilled in accordance with Article 4, the Accreditation Council decides on admission and transmits the application to the accreditation agency for the assessment. If the requirements are not fulfilled, the Accreditation Council makes a non-admission decision. 2 For programme accreditation, the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall file a well-founded application to the accreditation agency. If the requirements are fulfilled in accordance with Article 5, the accreditation agency decides on admission. If the conditions are not fulfilled, the accreditation agency makes a non-admission decision. In both cases it shall notify the Accreditation Council. 3 For accreditation and renewal of accreditation the application shall be
Art. 11 Self-assessment
1 The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall carry out a self-assessment and summarise the results in a written report (self-assessment report). 2 It shall send the self-assessment report to the accreditation agency.
Art. 12 External assessment
1 By means of the self-assessment and an on-site visit, the group of experts shall verify whether the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector or the study programme meets the quality standards. 2 On the occasion of the on-site visit, the group of experts shall hold discussions with all representative groups of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector affected by the procedure. 3 The group of experts shall draw up a report. This shall contain: a. an assessment of the quality assurance system of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector, on the basis of the quality standards; b. if required, suggestions for recommendations and conditions for further development of the quality assurance system; c. an accreditation proposal made to the accreditation agency.
Art. 13 Composition of the group of experts
1 The accreditation agency shall set up a group of experts to carry out the external assessment. 2 It shall set up the group of experts in such a way that the group has the required national and international experience and expertise to assess the accreditation application. The type, profile, size and other specific features of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector are thereby taken into account. 3 Gender, age and origins shall be taken into account in the composition of the group of experts. Experts must be independent and impartial. 4 The following apply to the composition of the group of experts: a. In the case of institutional accreditation, the group of experts shall consist of at least five experts. The group shall have current and international experience in managing or running a higher education institution or another institution within the higher education sector, internal quality assurance, teaching and research as well as, d
Para. 4 let. c — Amended by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 26 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 5929). Para. 6 — SR 172.021
Art. 14 The accreditation proposal of the accreditation agency and statement of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector
1 The accreditation agency shall submit an accreditation proposal to the Accreditation Council on the basis of procedural documents, in particular the self-assessment report and report of the group of experts. 2 The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall comment on the report of the group of experts and of the accreditation agency’s accreditation proposal. 3 The accreditation agency shall submit its accreditation proposal with the self-assessment report, report of the group of experts and statement of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector to the Accreditation Council for a decision. 4 The Accreditation Council shall check whether the proposal is suitable as the basis for a decision. If necessary the proposal shall be returned to the accreditation agency.
Art. 15 Accreditation decision
1 The Accreditation Council shall base its decision on institutional accreditation or programme accreditation on the accreditation agency’s proposal, the self-assessment report, the report of the group of experts and the statement of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector. 2 The Accreditation Council may: a. grant accreditation unconditionally; b. grant accreditation subject to conditions; c. refuse accreditation. 3 It shall, in the context of the accreditation decision, determine the deadline and means of verifying whether the conditions have been met. 4 It shall notify the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector and accreditation agency about it. 5 …
Para. 5 — Repealed by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 25 Nov. 2021, with effect from 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 788).
Art. 15a Verification of fulfilment of conditions
1 The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall submit a report to the Accreditation Council on fulfilment of requirements and shall do so by the deadline specified in the accreditation decision. The Accreditation Council shall then forward this report to the agency. 2 The agency shall check whether the requirements have been met in accordance with the modalities laid down in the accreditation decision and shall document its conclusions in a report to be submitted to the Accreditation Council. 3 The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall prepare a position statement regarding the agency report. 4 The agency shall submit its report together with the documentation and position statement made by the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector to the Accreditation Council for a decision. 5 The Accreditation Council shall determine whether the require
Art. 15a — Inserted by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 26 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 5929).
Art. 16 Withdrawal of the application
1 The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector may withdraw the accreditation application at any time. 2 If the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector withdraws its application, it may not file another application until at least 24 months have elapsed.
Art. 17 Disclosure requirement of the higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector
The higher education institution or other institution within the higher education sector shall immediately notify the Accreditation Council of any changes that mean the requirements under Article 6 or 7 are no longer being met.
Art. 18 Administrative measures
If the accreditation requirements are no longer met, the Accreditation Council shall take measures in accordance with Article 64 paragraphs 1 and 2 HEdA.
Art. 18 — Amended by No I of the O of the Higher Education Council of 26 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 5929).
Art. 19 Period of validity of the accreditation
The accreditation applies for seven years from the accreditation decision.
Art. 20 Publication
The Accreditation Council shall publish a list of accredited higher education institutions or other institutions within the higher education sector which have complied with the right to use reserved designations, as well as accredited study programmes. The list of accredited higher education institutions or other institutions within the higher education sector shall also include integrated universities of teacher education.