Our Strategic Partners
AKKORK
The mission of AKKORK is to form and develop in Russia an independent system of education quality assessment and assurance that corresponds to the principles of the Bologna declaration and the world best practices.
Having similar objectives in the advancement of quality assurance in higher education, AKKORK and THE-ICE established an MoU to form closer relations for the purpose of creating cooperative and collaborative mechanisms for the mutual benefit of both parties, as well as for the benefit of higher education programmes in Russian Federation (where applicable).
For more information please see the AKKORK website.
BAN-PT
In an official signing ceremony during the 3rd Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN) Global Summit 2018 in Bali, Indonesia, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between THE-ICE and the Indonesian National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education, Basab Akreditasi Nasional Perguruan Tinggi (BAN-PT).
The objective of the MoU is to work with BAN-PT in the creation of a programme-specific national accreditation agency for TH&E programmes in Indonesia. This ground-breaking project will strengthen THE-ICE brand and collaborative relationships in the region, whilst assisting Indonesia with the development of quality assurance in TH&E higher education. THE-ICE is delighted that BAN-PT share the commitment and passion in the ongoing quality assurance enhancement in higher education and welcome the opportunity to develop this strategic partnership with BAN-PT for mutual growth and benefit.
BAN-PT’s vision is to become an independent accreditation institution that is dignified, credible, and accountable and is a national and international reference in supporting the realization of a superior and characterized higher education system.THE-ICE looks forward to progressing this partnership for the development of programme-specific accreditation in Indonesia.
Click here to view the MoU.
For more information please visit the BAN-PT website.
CAA
The CAA (Commission for Academic Accreditation) of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the Federal Government’s Quality Assurance Agency charged with promoting educational excellence across diverse institutions of higher learning in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
The colleges and universities of the United Arab Emirates, government-supported and private alike, play an essential role as we here in the UAE seek to realise the tremendous potential of a knowledge-based future. It is therefore of the utmost importance that institutions in the UAE offer the highest quality academic programmes; programmes that are recognised both within the country and internationally for their excellence. Through licensure of post-secondary educational institutions, and accreditation of individual programmes, the Commission strives to assure high quality education, consistent with international standards.
The CAA published a new edition of the Standards for Licensure and Accreditation in 2011; this edition continues the effort of the Commission for Academic Accreditation to refine its existing standards and procedures to ensure that newly established institutions and programmes, as well as existing ones, meet high levels of quality. The eleven Standards provide measures of quality that all institutions must meet for licensure and programme accreditation, and also reflect a consensus within the international higher education community on the essential characteristics required of institutions to achieve continuous improvement. As a result, students, graduates, their families, and the UAE public can be confident that licensed institutions and accredited programmes will provide the quality of higher education that they expect and deserve.
CAA and THE-ICE have been cooperating in various higher education quality assurance assessment projects since 2013 and entered into a formal strategic partnership relationship on 10th June 2015, with the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations.
For more information please visit the CAA website
FIBAA
FIBAA (Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation) is an internationally-oriented agency for quality assurance and quality development in higher education, established in 1994 by the central associations of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
FIBAA’s mission was to ensure the quality of MBA programmes on the basis of stringent quality criteria and make it transparent – even before the introduction of compatible national quality assurance systems in Europe in the course of the Bologna reform. Today, their task is even more relevant than ever in view of the advancing internationalisation and high requirements for the quality of study programmes.
With over twenty years of experience, FIBAA accredit academic degree and non-degree courses in management, economics, law and social sciences, assess and accredit Higher Education Institutions and support their clients by providing advice on an individual basis. More importantly they regard themselves as a partner and generator of ideas on improving the quality of international Higher Education Institutions.
FIBAA & THE-ICE work in close collaboration in the field of quality assurance and quality development in higher education, particularly in the fields of tourism, hospitality and event management since 2014 through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
For more information please see the FIBAA website.
HEEACT
As a third-party and professional organization specializing in higher education evaluation and accreditation, the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT)’s tasks include two major areas: to conduct institutional and program evaluations on all of Taiwan (R.O.C.)’s universities and colleges in the higher education system of Taiwan (R.O.C.); and to conduct quality assurance and enhancement research and development projects on higher education.
With the aims of facilitating the internationalization of Taiwan (R.O.C.)’s higher education quality, and to continuously grasp the most current developments of quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, HEEACT actively participates in numerous international organizations, networks and activities. By doing so, HEEACT has not merely outputted the Taiwanese higher education evaluation experiences, but brought greater international visibility to the higher education of Taiwan (R.O.C.).
For more information, please visit the HEEACT website.
i-graduate
i-graduate is an independent benchmarking and consultancy service, delivering comparative insights for the education sector worldwide. i-graduate specialises in the delivery of world-class insight tools and studies for stakeholder in education, including THE-ICE annual ISB-SB (International Student Barometer and Student Barometer™) Student Satisfaction Survey, which forms an integral part of our ongoing quality enhancement cycle for our member institutions.
More than 1400 universities and colleges in 36 countries have adopted the ISB-SB™, collecting and comparing feedback from over 4 million students to date. All levels and years of study are covered, from first year undergraduates to final year PhD students.
Since 2007 THE-ICE has been working in partnership with i-graduate using the ISB-SB™ unique tool to understand and enhance the whole student experience, and in 2010 in addition to tracking the perceptions of international students, THE-ICE has extended the process to include home students – extending the benefit of the most comprehensive survey instrument for confidential institutional feedback and external comparison to its member institutions.
For more information please see the i-graduate website.
National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC)
UK NARIC is the United Kingdom’s National Recognition Information Centre, and as such is responsible for providing information and expert opinion on academic, vocational, and professional qualifications from across the world. As a national agency managed on behalf of the United Kingdom government, UK NARIC provides the only official UK source of information on international education and training systems, and qualifications and skills attained outside the United Kingdom. The organisation offers products and services in four main areas:
- Evaluation of individual qualifications
- Information provision services to member organisations
- Benchmarking and accreditation of international qualifications
- Benchmarking and accreditation of Transnational Education operations and TVET providers
The objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding are to pursue mutual understanding of processes, exchange information and expertise, and collaborate for the benefit of both parties. Through the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, UK NARIC and THE-ICE commit to explore possibilities for mutual collaboration in the areas of accreditation, quality enhancement, and recognition. building a strategic partnership that facilitates and promotes cooperation in accreditation and benchmarking activities and paves the way for combining accreditation procedures.
Click here to view the UK NARIC proposal for THE-ICE Members.
For more information please visit the UK NARIC website.
NVAO
The 10th IPoE Forum 2016 held in Lucerne, Switzerland, marked an historic moment, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NVAO (in Dutch: Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie) and THE-ICE, for mutual recognition of respective accreditation system. The partnership was further cemented with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on 9th February 2017. The agreement exceeded all expectations with the two QA agencies partnering in joint accreditation of tourism or hospitality programmes across all Dutch government-funded universities or higher education institutions.
Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, NVAO is an accreditation organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders that was established by the governments as an independent accreditation organisation, tasked with providing expert and objective assessment of the quality of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders.
The collaboration enables Dutch institutions with studies in the field of hotel management and tourism to be able to make use of a single procedure, enabling both the NVAO-accreditation and the THE-ICE to be achieved concurrently.
Click here to view the MoA.
Click here to view the MoU.
For more information please visit the NVAO website.
PACUCOA
The Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA), a private national accreditation agency that provides formal recognition of educational institutions by attesting that their academic programmes maintain excellence across educational operations.
As the battle for “world class excellence” accelerates, THE-ICE and PACUCOA cemented their relationship through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on a visit to the Philippines in February 2018, with a view to creating a partnership that enables joint accreditation of Filipino institutes that specialise in tourism, hospitality, events and culinary arts (TH&E) higher education.
With many countries sharing common concerns about the performance of their higher education systems, this new partnership is the first step in paving the way for joint accreditation in an effort to recognise excellence in TH&E higher education in the Philippines through quality assurance, accreditation and benchmarking.
For more information please visit the PACUCOA website.
TEQSA
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is an independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for Australia’s higher education sector. In doing so, TEQSA administers the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. TEQSA was established in 2011 after a review of the Australian higher education sector recommended an independent national regulator for all types of higher education be established.
All organisations that offer higher education qualifications in or from Australia, must be registered by TEQSA. Their regulatory approach is standards and risk-based, and guided by the regulatory principles of regulatory necessity, reflecting risk, and proportionate regulation.
TEQSA’s purpose is to protect student interests and the reputation of Australia’s higher education sector through a proportionate, risk-reflective approach to quality assurance that supports diversity, innovation and excellence:
- register regulated entities as higher education providers and accredit their courses of study
- conduct compliance and quality assessments
- conduct re-accreditation assessments of courses developed by providers without self-accrediting authority
- provide advice and make recommendations to the Commonwealth Minister responsible for Education on matters relating to the quality and regulation of higher education providers
- cooperate with similar agencies in other countries
- collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information relating to quality assurance practice and quality improvement in higher education.
On 7th September, 2016, THE-ICE and TEQSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding at TEQSA’s headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, agreeing to cooperate for the organisations’ mutual benefit.
Click here to view the MoU.
For more information please visit the TEQSA website.
Unibuddy
Unibuddy exists to empower students to make better decisions through shared human experience. Their mission is to enable students from across the world to make the right choice about their Higher Education journey. They provide powerful student engagement tools for admissions, recruitment and enrollment professionals, to match prospects with student ambassadors, host virtual events and gain actionable insights and analytics on prospective students.
THE-ICE members can leverage the Unibuddy platform to connect prospective students with current students, and connect with them throughout their admissions journey. Through this partnership, members of THE-ICE are eligible for a 20% discount on the Unibuddy platform.
For more information please visit the Unibuddy website.