The American higher education sector is diverse and creative. In 2014-15, the sector produced over 1 million associate’s degrees, nearly 1.9 million bachelor’s degrees, over 758,000 master’s degrees, and over 178,000 doctoral degrees. The world leader in innovation for decades, the sector continues to produce cutting edge research and contributes mightily to the American economy. Recent estimates concluded that the
But while the sector continues to be vital to the
Fifteen years ago the question of higher education quality assurance was one only a small number of insiders concerned themselves with, but today it is a major topic of national media and political campaigns.
The massive public and private investment the country is making in higher education, combined with increasing concerns about the success of the sector in promoting positive outcomes for students, have raised the issue of quality assurance to one of prominence. This has led to an intensifying debate among government officials and policymakers about the best ways to regulate the sector to increase its productivity. Fifteen years ago the question of higher education quality assurance was one only a small number of insiders concerned themselves with, but today it is a major topic of national media and political campaigns.
The purpose of this landscape paper is to organize some of the current debates about higher education quality assurance and to present a possible path forward to enable higher education leaders, policy makers, and the twenty-plus million current students to achieve their common goal of improving the success of the sector.
We elaborate and advocate a “management-based” approach to higher education quality assurance. In a management-based approach, institutions document their own outcome goals and plans for achieving them, subject to ongoing third-party monitoring of progress toward goals and the quality and implementation of plans and processes, as well as achievement of standard, minimum performance thresholds. All evaluation is contextualized and benchmarked against the experience of peer organizations. When implemented effectively, such a management-based approach weeds out the poorest performers, while motivating and facilitating other institutions to reexamine and improve their processes and results continuously.
We draw examples from management-based quality assurance systems in other sectors and countries to illustrate features like the combined assessment of standardized outcomes and program-defined outcomes; monitoring of targeted quality improvement plans; frequent interaction between regulators and providers; and differentiated reviews, consequences, and ratings. Applying a management-based approach to
Many of these are subtle variations on the existing system, in some cases consistent with reforms already being piloted by accreditors; some are more significant departures. In general, our view is that the basic infrastructure of our current system of accreditation is consistent with a management-based approach. Mainly what is needed are some changes to the focus, standards, and timing of review, and to consequences and reporting, as well as a more streamlined initial approval process. Notwithstanding their apparent modesty, the changes we suggest have the potential to open the door wider to innovative providers, while doing a better job than the current system of ensuring minimum standards and promoting ongoing improvement in quality.
Importantly, these design principles . . . are grounded in a theory of change that views institutional learning as the primary mechanism for sustained improvement.
Importantly, these design principles—and our broader focus on management-based quality assurance—are grounded in a theory of change that views institutional learning as the primary mechanism for sustained improvement. The goal of the process is not merely to ensure that minimum standards are met, or to enforce program designs and practices that fit a particular image of what postsecondary education should look like. Rather, it is to reinforce an institution’s own examination of its practices and their effects on outcomes of social value, in a cycle of continuous improvement.
The paper proceeds as follows. We begin with an overview of the accreditation system and other quality assurance mechanisms for higher education in the
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