FAQ-Kategorie: 04 Deadline extension/adjustment (new law)

There are five options for extending the accreditation of study programmes:

Automatic extension of program accreditations for the duration of the administrative procedure
If an application for reaccreditation is submitted on time in the program accreditation, the accreditation period is automatically extended until the Accreditation Council makes a decision, provided this is not made before the deadline expires (see FAQ 01.1.1).

Extension of the accreditation period for expiring study programmes (§ 26 para. 3 sentence 1 MRVO)
The Accreditation Council has the option of extending accreditation periods for study programmes that are no longer to be continued and in which students are no longer enrolled, upon request, until the students have completed their studies. The prerequisite is proof from the higher education institution that the study programme has not undergone any essential changes and that the necessary personnel and material resources are available on a sustainable basis.

Extension of the accreditation period in the course of preparing a cluster accreditation procedure (§ 26 para. 3 sentence 2 MRVO)
The Accreditation Council can extend the accreditation period of a study programme by up to two years at the request of the higher education institution if it is included in a planned cluster accreditation. The extension serves to relieve the higher education institutions in their preparation for cluster accreditation. The number of study programmes whose accreditation period is to be extended should be in reasonable proportion to the number of study programmes whose accreditation period is decisive for the new accreditation period to be set. As a rule, this means: “adjustment of the minority to the majority”.

Please note: For information on the procedure for preparing an application for bundling and deadline extension in the course of preparing a bundling procedure , see FAQ 04.5.

Extension of the accreditation period in the course of preparation for system accreditation (§ 26 para. 3 sentence 2 MRVO)
The Accreditation Council can extend the deadlines for study programmes by up to two years at the request of the higher education institution if the higher education institution is preparing an application for system accreditation. The extension serves to relieve the higher education institutions in their preparation for system accreditation.

Extension of the accreditation deadlines of study programmes in the course of the administrative procedure at the Accreditation Council as part of a system accreditation (§ 26 para. 3 sentence 3 MRVO)
With this option, the accreditation deadlines of study programmes that end during the administrative procedure can be extended when an application for system accreditation is submitted to the Accreditation Council. The deadline extension can be granted for the duration of the administrative procedure plus one year. The additional year is intended to enable the higher education institution to assess and accredit the study programmes concerned itself within the framework of the accreditation procedures of the accredited system.

Extraordinary extension of deadline due to Covid-19
For accreditations whose accreditation deadline ended on or before 30.09.2021, it was possible to apply in ELIAS for an “extraordinary extension of accreditation” due to delays caused by the pandemic. This type of extension expired on 30.09.2021 and is not applicable for study programmes whose accreditation ends after 30.09.2021 (see Board resolution of 10.03.2020 and Accreditation Council resolution of 29.09.2020, available here).

Automatic extension of program accreditations upon application until the decision of the Accreditation Council:
The application must be submitted in good time (see FAQ 01.1.1) in the electronic ELIAS system, including submission of the associated documents (accreditation report, self-evaluation report), which allow at least a summary review. Subsequent submission of the documents is not possible.

Expiring study programme
A written justification with details of all study programmes to be extended as well as proof that the study programmes have not undergone any essential changes and that the necessary personnel and material resources are available on a sustainable basis.

Cluster accreditation:
A written justification with details of all study programmes to be extended as well as details of the other study programmes to be included in the cluster to whose accreditation deadline the study programmes to be extended are to be aligned (name of the study programme, degree, existing accreditation deadline and, if available: Bundle approval). If the bundle contains study programmes that have not yet been launched at the time of application, an official committee resolution on the launch of the study programme is required.

System accreditation:
The following documents must be submitted to the Accreditation Council when preparing for system accreditation:

• Contract with an approved Agencies;
• informal application with details of the study programmes to be extended and
• a plan for internal university accreditations as part of the established quality assurance system.

• The extension of program accreditations upon application until the decision of the Accreditation Council is made is automatic, i.e. without a separate application.
• In all other cases, separate applications for the extension of accreditation deadlines must be submitted online by the higher education institutions in the electronic application processing system ELIAS. If a higher education institution (or the user administrator of the higher education institution) wishes to forward this task to an agency, an employee of the respective agency should be created as a user of the higher education institution in order to enable the application via the agency.

• For the automatic extension of program accreditations upon application until the decision of the Accreditation Council, the application must be submitted in good time (see FAQ 0.1.1) in the electronic ELIAS FAQ system, including submission of the associated documents (accreditation report, self-evaluation report), which allow at least a summary review. Subsequent submission of the documents is not possible. There are no further requirements.
• One reason for a deadline extension of up to two years is usually the different deadlines for study programmes within a bundle. If the accreditations of all study programmes in a bundle expire at the same time, the higher education institution is responsible for initiating an immediately subsequent (re)accreditation before the validity period of the accreditation expires (cf. § 26 para. 2 MRVO).
• The number of study programmes whose accreditation period is to be extended as part of a batch accreditation should be in reasonable proportion to the number of study programmes whose accreditation period is decisive for the new accreditation period to be set. As a rule, this means: “adjustment of the minority to the majority”.
• The justification submitted to the Accreditation Council must clarify when the peer-review procedure and consequently the accreditation application can be expected.

Applications for the extension of accreditation deadlines and bundled compositions in accordance with Section 30 (2) MRVO are now processed entirely in ELIAS. There are two different types of application in ELIAS. If a higher education institution wishes to have both a bundle approved and the deadlines of some of the accreditations contained therein extended, two separate applications must be submitted in ELIAS.

The correct sequence is to submit an application for bundle composition first. If this application is approved, the application for deadline extension can then be submitted as part of the preparation of an already approved bundling procedure. The positive decision on the bundle composition should be attached to the deadline extension application.