ABOUT ACQUIN

The introduction of accreditation procedures is based on resolutions of the German Rectors’ Conference of July 1998 and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of December 1998 in connection with the expansion and differentiation of the system of study programmes and university degrees in Germany. The Accreditation Council was established in June 1999 for the coordination of the assessment procedures and the certification of accreditation agencies.

In May 2000, the association of the heads of the HEIs in the German federal state Bavaria decided to establish an independent agency for the accreditation of all study programmes, as Germany’s participation in EHEA required quality assurance for bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes through accreditation.
The initiative of the Bavarian universities was supported from the outset by HEIs in other national federal states such as Baden-Wuerttemberg, Saxony, Thuringia and the neighbouring country Austria. Accordingly, the non-profit association Akkreditierungs- Certifizierungs- und Qualitätssicherungsinstitut (Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute) ACQUIN e.V. was founded on 26 January 2001.

As an organisation founded on the initiative of higher education institutions and supported mainly by higher education institutions, the Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute ACQUIN e.V. acts as a quality assurance agency for national and international educational programmes and institutions in the tertiary education sector in order to provide impulses for their quality development.

The aim is to promote a high quality of education as well as internationally recognised, high-quality educational qualifications. ACQUIN ensures that the procedures are in line with the relevant laws and regulations and comply with both national and international standards.

In this context, ACQUIN seeks to cooperate and collaborate with other quality assurance institutions in the tertiary education sector, educational institutions, interest groups, companies and government agencies, in order to enable development in line with current and international requirements and needs.

ACQUIN pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes with its activities and therefore is not profit-oriented.

ACQUIN aims to provide national and international institutions and training providers in the tertiary education sector with the best support possible in ensuring and further developing their quality as well as achieving their respective quality objectives in a targeted and efficient manner. This includes the alignment of external and internal requirements with individual quality objectives.

ACQUIN’s quality concept follows the principle that criteria-based quality development is as individual as the organisational cultures and profiles of the various institutions in the tertiary education sector. ACQUIN therefore provides individual advice and support tailored to the specific needs of each institution, taking external requirements into account.

ACQUIN considers itself a reliable and independent partner within and outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) for a sustainable, targeted and individual promotion of the quality of training programmes and institutions in the tertiary education sector.

Intercultural understanding and respectful interaction are just as much a part of ACQUIN’s basic principles as the promotion of integration, (inter)national cooperation and diversity. In all its activities, ACQUIN highly values sustainable and trusting relationships with business partners, employees and all other stakeholders.

The aim is to design all processes in a sustainable manner.