Accreditation Agencies in the European Higher Education Area

Although quality assurance (QA) in higher education has been well established for many years, the world of QA is changing. This timely book takes an insightful look from a nonprofit sector perspective at how these changes are impacting accreditation of higher education institutions. Using empirical data on agencies within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), Stefan Handke provides a thorough review of external assessments carried out by these agencies and reveals the transformation of nonprofit organisations with a public interest orientation into business-like organisations. The book further examines the negative impact on one of the most important functions of QA agencies: the creation of trust and how a change in the rules for external QA is required to alleviate this issue. Forward-thinking, the book also highlights the implications of these rule changes and the importance of them to ensure the survival of accreditation agencies. The expert analysis of the data within this book will be an invaluable resource for those working within QA agencies as well as stakeholders in higher education and researchers in the nonprofit sector. Students studying in the fields of public management and organisation studies will also find this book instructive and informative.