Spotlight: The Washington Accord

The Washington Accord, signed in 1989, is an international agreement among bodies responsible for accrediting engineering degree programs. It recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies and recommends that graduates of programs accredited by any of the signatory bodies be recognized by the other bodies as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering.

The Washington Accord set the criteria, policies and procedures for accrediting engineering academic programs. Its signatories agreed to accept each other's accreditation decisions and to publish statements certifying their intent to do so. Thus, the signatories agreed to recognize the "substantial equivalence" of their respective programs in terms of meeting academic requirements for engineering programs. The signatories pledged to exchange information exchange and conduct mutual monitoring, to observe each other's accreditation visits, and to encourage best practices. The Washington Accord provides for admission of new members and a biennial general meeting. Thus, this accord promotes the effective mutual recognition of accredited Engineering Degree courses in each of the signatory countries. Australia and United States continued to be Chairman and Secretariat of the Accord.