Key points for the further development of the accreditation system

The German higher education institutions welcome the fact that the recent decision of the Federal Constitutional Court[1] paves the way for a nationwide and substantial modification of the accreditation system. Regardless of the experiences acquired and the partial success achieved thus far on the current basis through the collaboration of all participants, the existing system has failed to address certain basic aspects in a way that is satisfactory for the higher education institutions.The HRK previously demanded a change to the system and called for the introduction of an Institutional Quality Audit in 2012 [2]. With respect to the necessary modification, the General Meeting of the HRK has noted the following key points:
- The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court does not call the existing system of external quality assurance into question in general terms. It underlines once again the difference between consultation and decision-making and requires directly or indirectly involved legislators in the federal states to introduce procedural and participative regulations. The legislators are to limit themselves to the embedding of essential principles in law and should not, through over-hasty lawmaking, create 'isolated solutions' limited to an individual federal state, which would hamper comparability and recognition at both national and international level. More...