In Chile, there are 178 higher education institutions. 126 of them are autonomous, and 81 have their accreditation (64,3%). 

Chilean Higher Education Institutions summit themselves to this process of accreditation with the purpose of certifying the accomplishment of their educational project, the application of efficient self-regulating mechanisms and quality assurance.

This process is voluntary and all autonomous institutions have access to it, as well as the undergraduate careers, post-degree, and specialization programs. According to act 20.129 it is compulsory for careers in teaching and medicine.

The Quality Assurance System (Sistema de Aseguramiento de la Calidad) establishes that National Accreditation Commission (NAC) - Commission Nacional de Acreditación (CNA) - is the agency in charge of verifying and promoting the quality of universities, colleges and technical institutions. This agency includes a wide group of people called, Assessment Au pairs (pares evaluadores) which have previously applied to public positions. They are responsible for covering different areas of the process of accreditation, providing key information for the decisions to be taken by the Commission.      

The accreditation consists of a self-evaluation process. Here the institution analyzes the available information about its own goals by means of reports coming from internal and external sources. Next, a period of time is established for the institution to deliver the self-evaluation report and regulations, evaluation criteria, periods of time and fees are informed, associated to an external assessment. During his period, those in charge of the Assessment Au pairs revise the reports and verifies in situ that the information in the reports is accurate. Although the process finishes with the decision of the NAC, quality assurance requires keeping permanent control over the assurance actions.    

Accreditation can last for different periods of time, depending on how strong the quality assurance mechanisms every institution has. The better the results, the higher the number of years of accreditation for the institution. In Chile, considering the 81 institutions which have got their accreditation, 60% got it for more than 4 years.  

There are different kinds of Accreditation: Institution, Careers, post graduate programs and Health area specializations. This is the ideal scenario for a student choosing a specific educational institution to look for the one which has all the areas covered, and if it doesn’t, the most important point is to choose an institution with its accreditation.  

In Chile, 100% of traditional universities and 85% of the private autonomous universities have their accreditation. In the case of colleges and technical institutions, it is less than 50%.

The importance of accreditation in Higher Education

When starting Higher Education it is impossible not to think about the importance of Accreditation, as finding institutional quality is a priority factor in this process. This process gets even more important when students require State loans or resources,  as to get them, it is essential for the institution’s students to have chosen to have its accreditation from NAC. In the case of accredited post-graduate programs, students would apply to scholarships with State resources.    

In spite of the relevance of the previous fact, institutions that are not accredited doesn’t mean their quality conditions are not accomplished. 

According to the National Accreditation Commission, an institution or career which is not accredited does not mean its titles are not valid. Regulations establish that “all titles and Degrees given by Educational Institutions recognized by the Ministry of Education Chile are valid”.

What experiences have you faced during your accreditation process?