Draft of the Guide for the Evaluation of International Joint Degrees in the Framework of the European Approach published

Royal Decree 822/2021, of September 28, which establishes the organization of university education and the procedure for assuring its quality, establishes in Article 5 that universities may design jointly with other Spanish and/or foreign universities study plans leading to the awarding of official Bachelor's and Master's degrees. 

In addition, RD 822/2021 states in its 6th and 7th additional provisions that universities may use the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in the verification, monitoring and accreditation processes, provided that the country of the university coordinating the degree has subscribed to this procedure. 

For its part, the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint International Programs (European Approach) was signed in 2015 by the Ministers of Higher Education in the Yerevan Communiqué. The aim of this procedure is to promote the design of joint programs at the European level to advance the establishment of a competitive European Higher Education Area (EHEA), promoting, among other initiatives, the design of common standards for the evaluation of joint degrees, and avoiding the application of additional national criteria. 

In subsequent statements such European ministers have stressed the importance of the implementation and use of the European approach in the evaluation of international joint programs as witnessed by the Paris Communiqué of 2018 and the Rome Conference of 2020. 

ANECA, as a European quality agency registered in the European Quality Agencies Register (EQAR) can carry out evaluations according to the guidelines stipulated by the European Approach. 

This Guide gathers the guidelines to be applied in the evaluation for the verification of international joint degrees under the European approach and establishes the procedure to be followed. The Protocol for the Evaluation of International Joint University Degrees according to the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (REACU 2022) and the standards and guidelines for quality assurance of international joint programs in the EHEA and their alignment with the ESG (Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area) have been considered in its elaboration. 

The draft is published to receive contributions from the universities of the "ANECA space" for fifteen days. Once received, they will be integrated in the final document. 

Access to the draft of the Guide, here.