FAQ-Kategorie: 07 International Affairs/Joint Programmes/ European Approach

For joint programmes (see FAQ 07.3 for the definition), the MRVO allows the application of the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (European Approach), see FAQ 07.2.

The European Approach allows the Accreditation Council to recognize the assessment by an EQAR-listed agency instead of a conventional programme accreditation of a joint programme; see § 33 MRVO for details.

Details on the application of the European Approach by German higher education institutions are regulated in §§ 10, 16 and 33 of the MRVO and explained in the explanatory memorandum to the MRVO. These paragraphs transpose the European Approach into German law; for legal reasons, the European Approach itself is only mentioned in the explanatory memorandum to the MRVO.

See also the presentation below on the recognition procedure according to the European Approach.

See the FAQ “ELIAS 09” on the application in ELIAS

The “European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes” (European Approach) was signed by the science ministers of the European Higher Education Area in May 2015; see here. It provides for the possibility of Recognition of assessments by quality assurance agencies for joint programmes, provided that

• These are listed in the European Agency Register EQAR,
• the assessment is carried out in accordance with the accreditation criteria standardized in the European Approach and based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and
• the Agency applies the special rules of procedure set out in the European Approach, which are appropriate for joint programmes.

Joint programmes in the sense of the European Approach are understood as an integrated curriculum that is coordinated and offered jointly by different higher education institutions from countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and leads to double/multiple degrees or a joint degree.

It should be noted that the European Approach is not EU law or directly applicable law in Germany. It therefore only applies insofar as it is adopted into national legal systems (see also FAQ 7.4).

According to Section 10 (1) MRVO, joint programmes are study programmes that lead to joint degrees or a double or multiple degree. They must also have the other characteristics listed in Section 10 (1) of the Regulation:

1. Integrated curriculum,
2. Proportion of studies at one or more higher education institutions abroad, usually at least 25 percent,
3. contractually regulated cooperation,
4. coordinated access and examination system and
5. joint quality assurance.

Another prerequisite for the application of the special rules according to §§ 10, 16 and 33 MRVO is that the participating higher education institutions are recognized as higher education institutions by the competent authorities of their countries and that the respective national legal framework allows participation in joint programmes (cf. the explanatory memorandum to § 10 MRVO).

It should be noted that the European Approach is not a national law in itself. It only applies insofar as it is adopted in the national legal systems. Therefore, higher education institutions should check separately whether the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes is applicable nationally for all consortium members. In countries where this is not the case, an additional accreditation procedure may have to be carried out in accordance with national regulations. See here for the national implementation of the European Approach.

The following applies to joint programmes involving only higher education institutions from the European Higher Education Area:
The application of the criteria specified in § 10 and § 16 (which correspond to the criteria of the European Approach) is mandatory. 

However, the implementation of accreditation procedures in accordance with the European Approach and Recognition by the AR is not mandatory in this case, but optional. This is clarified in the explanatory memorandum to § 33 MRVO. According to this, higher education institutions also have the option of carrying out a “normal” peer-review procedure and then submitting a normal application for accreditation to the Accreditation Council instead of carrying out a procedure in accordance with the European Approach, even in the case of joint programmes within the meaning of Sections 10 (1) and 16 (1). The difference to national accreditation procedures is then (only) that the criteria set of the European Approach is applied.  

A “normal” accreditation according to § 22 makes sense, for example, if the European Approach is not or not fully implemented in a partner country of the German higher education institution and therefore no accreditation procedures according to the European Approach can be carried out (for example, the joint self-evaluation of the higher education institutions is therefore not possible).

For joint programmes involving higher education institutions that do not belong to the European Higher Education Area, however, the following applies:

The European Approach only applies if the cooperation partners from outside the European Higher Education Area commit to accreditation using the criteria and rules of procedure of the European Approach. This can be assumed if accreditation procedures have been/will be carried out in accordance with the European Approach.

A declaration sent to the Head Office of the Accreditation Council by the higher education institution stating that it has checked that the requirements of § 10 para. 1 MRVO are met and that it is aware that the applicability of § 33 MRVO is subject to the expert vote and the final decision of the Accreditation Council is sufficient.

This declaration can be made informally by email to the Head Office. 

The system-accredited higher education institution can decide whether to quality assure a joint programme via its internal QM or by way of programme accreditation.

• If the higher education institution decides to apply for program accreditation, quality assurance for this study programme will continue to be carried out externally by an Agencies and not via the internal QM mechanisms of the system-accredited higher education institution. In this case, see the other FAQ 07
• Alternatively, the criteria of the European Approach can be applied solely via the mechanisms of the internal QM system. In this case, the special rules of procedure of the European Approach do not apply and no recognition decision by the Accreditation Council is required.

The system-accredited higher education institution must consult with the partner universities involved in the study programme and work with them to determine what requirements exist nationally for external quality assurance.

Yes, this is definitely the case. The European Approach is not applied to all international study programme related cooperation that does not meet the characteristics set out in § 10 para. 1. Rather, the cooperation is to be measured against the requirements for cooperation set out in § 20 as before. In addition, the study components completed abroad are only to be measured against whether suitable framework conditions for student mobility have been created (this also includes the application of the Lisbon Recognition Convention; Section 12 para. 1 sentence 4) and whether the study programme does justice to its special profile (Section 12 para. 6).