Accrediting Bodies

Who is responsible for program accreditation?

Accreditation of programs in engineering, engineering technology and computing is conducted by many organizations, ranging from governmental or quasi governmental bodies to private and volunteer associations. In some regions, accreditation is regulated by laws, while in others it is a voluntary process with little official recognition. Recognition of accrediting bodies is similarly made in some places by local or national governmental agencies, and in others, by voluntary associations of existing accrediting bodies.

Many accrediting bodies are limited to institutions in a single country, while others engage in accreditation outside the country where they have been established or incorporated. The following is a list of accrediting bodies, as well as an option to view a list by country.  Selecting the name of the organization will provide a page with further details, links, and a list of associated accords and agreements. 

Accrediting Organizations

Select a country below to limit the list of accrediting bodies to those currently accrediting programs in a specific country.

Baltimore, MD
United States

Accrediting in: United States, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam

ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental agency that accredits programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. They provide voluntary, specialized accreditation for post-secondary programs within degree-granting institutions already recognized by national or regional institutional accreditation agencies or national education authorities worldwide.

한국공학교육인증원

ABEEK

Seoul
South Korea

Accrediting in: South Korea

Since its founding in 1999, the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea (ABEEK) has strived to assure the quality of educational programs in engineering and related disciplines, and to enhance the professional competence of the graduates of those programs in Korea. ABEEK aims to promote the development of engineering education and produce qualified engineers by providing the accreditation of college educational programs in engineering and related fields and the consultation through the criteria and guidelines suggested for those programs.

De Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie

NVAO

The Hague
Netherlands

Accrediting in: Netherlands, Belgium, Curacao

The Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders, or Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie (NVAO), is a quality assurance agency that safeguards the quality of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders, in an expert and independent manner, and that fosters the quality culture pursued within the higher education institutions in the Netherlands and Flanders. It accredits existing and new programmes, and assesses the quality assurance of higher education institutions. NVAO bases its assessments on the recommendations of recognised experts.

Acredita CI

Santiago
Chile

Accrediting in: Chile

Acredita CI is committed to high quality standards in the awarding of accreditation within engineering and external evaluation processes. They are committed to excellence, independence of opinion and transparency in decisions, spreading the value of accreditation, and the continual improvement of the training process as a way of contributing to the assurance of the quality of higher education. In 2018, Acredita CL became a provisional signatory of the Washington Accord.

Agentur für Qualitätssicherung und Akkreditierung Austria

AQ

Vienna
Austria

Accrediting in: Austria

On the basis of the Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education, the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria is responsible for carrying out accreditation procedures in Austria. Private universities and universities of applied sciences (FH) require accreditation as a prerequisite for state recognition. In accrediting a higher education institution, AQ Austria certifies that they have met the prerequisites for accreditation. In addition to the statutory accreditation procedures in Austria, AQ Austria also offers voluntary accreditation of degree programmes for HEIs abroad.

AAQ

Bern
Switzerland

Accrediting in: Switzerland
The Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance safeguards and promotes the quality of teaching and research at universities in Switzerland. It is independent, uses internationally recognised methods and is able to draw upon the knowledge and experience of leading experts. The AAQ develops guidelines and quality standards, conducts accreditation and evaluation procedures, and works at an international level. Programme accreditation procedures assess Bachelor and Master degree courses and continuing education programmes and are voluntary in Switzerland.

Düsseldorf
Germany

Accrediting in: Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Finland, Indonesia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Namibia, Peru, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tunisia

ASIIN is a German accreditation agency specialised in accrediting degree programs from the fields of engineering, informatics/computer science, the natural sciences and mathematics at bachelor, Maser and PhD levels. Within an ASIIN programme accreditation procedure, it is possible to acquire specific quality seals (labels) for certain subjects in addition to the ASIIN seal. Currently, the EUR-ACE label for engineering and the Euro-Inf label for computer science and business informatics may be applied for with ASIIN program accreditation.

Ассоциации инженерного образования России

AEER

Moscow
Russia

Accrediting in: Russia, Colombia, Ecuador, Jordan, Tajikistan

The Association for Engineering Education of Russia was one of the founding members of the Independent Accreditation Center (IAC), which was the first non-governmental agency for the evaluation of engineering educational programs. In 2001 the AEER initiated the revision of the accreditation criteria and procedures to make them consistent with the world experience in quality assurance in higher education. In 2002, the AEER developed new criteria and procedures for public accreditation of engineering programs.

Zväz slovenských vedeckotechnických spoločností

ZSVTS

Bratislava
Slovakia

Accrediting in: Slovakia
The Association of Slovak Scientific and Technological Societies (abbreviated ZSVTS or Zväz Slovenských Vedeckotechnických Spoločností (ZSVTS) is a voluntary, nonprofit, democratic and non-political association of interest-oriented scientific and technical societies, committees, unions, territorial coordination centers and other independent legal entities. ZSVTS as the only organization in Slovakia is authorized to assess and recommend candidates for the approval of a major title - European Engineer - EUR ING.

ACS

Sydney
Australia

Accrediting in: Australia, Fiji, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates

The Australian Computer Society has mission to advance professional excellence in information and communication technology, and provide accreditation for "information and communications technology." For the purpose of these Guidelines, the term "information and communications technology" means: "Computer Science, Information Systems, Computer Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, including directly related subjects and technologies, and their use in analysis, design, construction and application of computer an ccommunications based systems."

BAETE

Dhaka
Bangladesh

Accrediting in: Bangladesh

BAETE provides accreditation to programs offered by institutions of higher learning approved in Bangladesh. In general, the accreditation of a program recognizes and acknowledges the value of transforming a student into a capable engineer with sound knowledge of fundamentals and an acceptable level of professional competence. Accreditation is granted only to programs and not to the institution as a whole. The same program offered at different campuses of an institution must be accredited separately at each campus.

BEM

Kuala Lampur
Malaysia

Accrediting in: Malaysia

The Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) through its Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) assesses and accredits engineering degrees offered by institutions of higher learning. BEM evaluates programme or programmes leading to the award of engineering degrees and accredits those programmes, which are adjudged as adequately preparing their graduates for registration as graduate engineers and entry into the profession. There are two types of accreditation given by BEM: conditional accreditation and full accreditation.

Ministry of Education, Comissão De Especialistas De Ensino De Engenharia

MEC

Rio de Janeiro
Brazil

Accrediting in: Brazil

The Brazil Ministry of Education oversees accreditation of institutions (private and public) awarding engineering degrees via the Comissão De Especialistas De Ensino De Engenharia. The organization originally met in 1999 and based their accreditation system on the ABET system. Currently the National Commission for Higher Education Evaluation-CONAES (Commisao Nacional de Avaliacao da Educacao Superior) is also involved with assessing Brazilian programs.

CIPS

Mississauga
Canada

Accrediting in: Canada, United Arab Emirates
CIPS is a Canadian IT Federation of 10 Provincial regulators that license IT professionals in Canada and abroad. It provides accreditation of IT university and college programs. As part of this responsibility CIPS undertakes a program of visits to universities and college/technical institutes to review computing and information technology related programs.

CAPES

Rio de Janeiro
Brazil

Accrediting in: Brazil
Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) Foundation is a federal agency within the Brazilian Ministry of Education, which is responsible for the evaluation of graduate courses/programs at the master and doctorate levels as well as encouraging international scientific cooperation. The evaluation procedures consist of critical analysis of annual reports of each course and their re-evaluation every third year. The evaluation procedures consist of critical analysis of annual reports of each course and their re-evaluation every third year.

Agencia Centroamericana de Acreditación de programas de Arquitectura y de Ingeniería

ACAAI

Panama City
Panama

Accrediting in: Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua

The Central American Agency for Accreditation of Architecture and Engineering is a non-profit, self-regulating and independent Central American regional body, made up of the academic sectors (public and private universities), government (Science - technology and education), employer (chambers of employers) and professional associations of Central America. It is in charge of carrying out the accreditation processes of architecture and engineering study programs.

CAST

Beijing
China

Accrediting in: China
CAST manages its member organization, the China Engineering Education Accreditation Association (CEEAA), which was established in 2015. It is composed of institutions and individuals related to engineering education and is responsible for the organization and implementation of engineering education accreditation in China.

Consejo Nactional de Acreditacion

CNA

Bogotá
Colombia

Accrediting in: Colombia
The National Accreditation Council (CNA) is a sectorial advisory and coordination body created to coordinate, plan, recommend and advise on the accreditation of higher education institutions and academic programs in Colombia. Program accreditation is a voluntary process and temporary in nature with periods ranging from three to ten years. The process includes external evaluations by peers and site visits. There are separate processes for undergraduate and graduate program accreditation.

CTI

Paris
France

Accrediting in: France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Tunisia, Vietnam

The CTI is an independent body, charged by French law since 1934, with evaluating all engineering training, developing the quality of training, promoting the title and the profession of engineer in France and abroad. The missions of the CTI include the evaluation of all engineering courses at French institutions issuing the title of graduate engineer. Since 2020, the CTI has also been in charge of evaluating Bachelor training from French engineering schools. On request, CTI also evaluates engineering programs at foreign establishments.

CAA

United Arab Emirates

Accrediting in: United Arab Emirates

The Commission for Academic Accreditation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is a government body that is responsible for the accreditation of institutes and degrees in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To ensure that the colleges and universities of the United Arab Emirates operate at international standards of quality, the Commission for Academic Accreditation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research conducts a program of licensure of institutions of higher education and accreditation of each of their academic programs.

CACEI

Mexico City
Mexico

Accrediting in: Mexico

The Consejo de Acreditación de la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería, A.C., (CACEI) is a non-profit civil association. Its primary objective is, through the accreditation of educational programs in the area of engineering, to promote higher education institutions (IES) to offer quality education to future graduates.

Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica

CFIA

San José
Costa Rica

Accrediting in: Costa Rica
CFIA strives to provide accreditation services for engineering and architecture programs that meet the needs and expectations of higher education institutions based on internationally recognized best practices, the principles and values ​​of CFIA and a continuous commitment to improvement. Accreditation is carried out by CFIA's Agencia de Acreditación de Programas de Ingeniería y de Arquitectura (AAPIA). Accreditation is a voluntary assessment process, which seeks to determine if a training program in engineering or architecture meets the established standards of quality.

COREN

Abuja
Nigeria

Accrediting in: Nigeria, Cyprus, Türkiye

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) was established in 1970 with the mandate to regulate the practice of Engineering in all aspects and ramifications. The council carries out this mandate through the accreditation of engineering programs and other initiatives.

CYQAA

Cyprus

Accrediting in: Cyprus

The Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA) is responsible for ensuring the quality of higher education in Cyprus and for supporting the continuous improvement and upgrading of higher education institutions (HEIs) and their programs of study through the procedures provided by the relevant legislation. 

ETEC

Riyadh
Saudi Arabia

Accrediting in: Saudi Arabia

The Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) develops, approves and implements systems for evaluation and accreditation, including evaluation and accreditation of both institutions and programs, in the field of education and training in Saudi Arabia.  In 2018, the organization reviewed and developed updated program accreditation standards, and began the process of reviewing and awarding both provisional and full accreditation status to universities within Saudi Arabia. In 2022, ETEC became a provisional signatory of the Washington Accord.