The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education

by

Hamish Coates, Paula Kelly, Marian Mahat

• LAST MODIFIED: 30 August 2016
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0158

Introduction

The regulation of standards in higher education is a complex area of scholarship that intersects with several established and emergent fields including quality assurance, regulation, and legal theory, public policy, accreditation, audit, academic standards, transnational education, and the scholarship of higher education policy more generally. A dynamic and diverse area of scholarship, the literature focusing on the regulation of standards in higher education often reflects regional specific contexts, changing policy environments, and evolving debates relating to academic standards in the increasingly global, diverse, and mass higher education industry. The complexity of this area of scholarship is reflective of diverse and non-uniform practice across and within nation-states, and of new forms of regulation stimulated by the technologically enabled and global provision of higher education. For example, in some nations academic standards may be wholly the responsibility of internal institutional quality assurance processes, while elsewhere meeting externally imposed academic standards from state, federal, or independent agencies may be a condition of registration or have funding implications. There are a number of key works and authors who have influenced and propelled the scholarship around the regulation of standards in higher education since the 1990s. Primarily these works have origins in nations where the regulation of higher education has been aligned to national or regional public policy reform such as the United Kingdom (King) and the United States (Dill, Ewell), and more recently Australia (Baird). It is not surprising, therefore, that where regulatory frameworks exist for assuring standards in higher education, scholarship surrounding this area has flourished. It is important too, to recognize the emerging scholarship from regions where the regulation of standards in higher education is a relatively new concept including in Asia. This review provides a regional-specific section that captures the individual contexts of higher education regulation and quality assurance frameworks. The inclusion of texts that reflect the considerable challenges surrounding the regulation of standards in higher education signal the contested terrain of this area of scholarship and the implications for future research.

General Overviews

The citations included in this section have been chosen to illustrate the role of regulation in higher education in the 21st century. The edited volume Dill and Beerkens 2010 provides a broad overview of recent international developments from leading higher education experts who illustrate the role of public policy in the regulation of standards in different contexts. Other contributions offer a critique of regulation in relation to graduate outcomes (Blackmur 2010), and the tensions that exist within systems of institutional accountability, state-based and market regulation in higher education for the 21st century (Hall 2012, Hodgson 2006). An overview of risk-based regulation (Huber 2009) is useful as many risk-based frameworks with origins in the private sector are being adopted as the regulatory architecture for higher education in many setting. As a leading theorist and public policy practitioner in the United Kingdom, the author of King 2007 and King 2016 provides an authoritative critique on the regulatory state of higher education and risk-based frameworks more specifically.

• Blackmur, D. 2010. Does the emperor have the right (or any) clothes? The public regulation of higher education qualities over the last two decades. Quality in Higher Education 16.1: 67–69.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538321003679549Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  The paper calls for a new higher education performance evaluation paradigm in which the standards achieved by new graduates in areas such as logical thinking are the prime candidates for independent validation.

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• Dill, D. D., and M. Beerkens, eds. 2010. Public policy for academic quality: Analyses of innovative policy instruments. Vol. 30. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media.

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  This book provides an overview of 21st-century developments in higher education public policy in a range of national contexts. The book provides recent examples of regulatory and quality assurance frameworks and instruments used to assure standards with contributions from leading international scholars.

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• Hall, J. 2012. Higher-education accreditation market regulation or government regulation? The Independent Review 17.2: 233.

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  The article explains the state of accreditation in higher education in the United States.

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• Hodgson, P. 2006. 21st century universities–less regulated but more accountable. Perspective 10.1: 3–8.

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  Discusses the cost and purpose of regulation in the higher education sector in the United Kingdom.

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• Huber, C. 2009. Risks and risk‐based regulation in higher education institutions. Tertiary Education and Management 15.2: 83–95.

  DOI: 10.1080/13583880902869554Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper comments on a list of possible risks and changes that higher education institutions have to face when a framework of risk-based regulation is adopted.

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• King, R. P. 2007. Governance and accountability in the higher education regulatory state. Higher Education 53.4: 411–430.

  DOI: 10.1007/s10734-005-3128-2Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper suggests that, using the example of external quality assurance particularly, there is no intrinsic regulatory “exceptionalism” for universities and that analyses of the “higher education regulatory state” would benefit from greater application of regulatory concepts found more widely.

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• King, R. P. 2016. Regulating risk in the higher education state: Implications for policy and research. In Dimensions of marketisation in higher education. Edited by P. John and J. Fanghanel. London: Taylor and Francis.

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  This chapter provides a critique of risk-based regulation within higher education settings, suggesting alternative frameworks for quality enhancement that are not borrowed from private sector models of governance.

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Quality Assurance

This section focuses on a major facet of the regulation of standards in higher education, namely the matter of quality assurance. Quality assurance (QA) of higher education is integral to understanding the practice and policy of regulation. Very broadly, QA can be seen as a matter of preventing poor processes or outcomes regarding various facets of management, research, or education. QA is an encompassing notion, which focuses on various facets of planning, implementation, review and improvement. Hence it can incorporate establishing preventative mechanisms, governance, advice, quality control, and interventions to drive improvement. The next subsection focuses on historical contexts, and the subsection following that on contemporary developments.

External Quality Assurance and Audit

This section provides an overview of external quality assurance and audit (EQA) as a key practice in the regulation of standards in higher education and as part of broader quality assurance practices. The structures, strategies, and operations of external quality assurance and audit are many and varied, with specific scope and scale to meet particular objectives. For example, national EQA agencies may conduct mandatory audits, whereas in other regions the process may be voluntary or relate only to specific disciplinary, departmental, or professional contexts. Dill 2010 provides a useful history of external academic quality assurance practice to inform future reform in the field, while Alderman and Brown 2005 provides a comparative analysis of regional differences for external quality assurance experience in the US and UK systems. While external quality assurance, accreditation, and audit demonstrate institutional accountability in an increasingly massive and diverse system, the effectiveness on institutional quality is often debated. The edited volume Shah and Nair 2013 provides a comprehensive review of EQA in a global context and introduces many of the current debates surrounding the effects of external assurance of standards in higher education. The tensions between internal quality assurance systems and the accountability processes of EQA are highlighted in Carr, et al. 2005 and Genis 2002 whose papers explore the often problematic relationship between institutional governance and external assurance agencies. As the worldwide association for external quality assurance agencies, the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) operates a network for EQA practice and emerging policy. Blackmur 2008 reviews the guidelines of good practice as developed by INQAAHE and provides a critical analysis for the external assurance of standards in higher education.

• Alderman, G., and R. Brown. 2005. Can quality assurance survive the market? Accreditation and audit at the crossroads. Higher Education Quarterly 59.4: 313–328.

  DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2273.2005.00300.xSave Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This chapter provides a comparative analysis of the systems used for the “accreditation” of degree-granting institutions in the United States (accreditation) and the United Kingdom (audit).

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• Blackmur, D. 2008. A critical analysis of the INQAAHE Guidelines of Good Practice for higher education quality assurance agencies. Higher Education 56.6: 723–734.

  DOI: 10.1007/s10734-008-9120-xSave Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper proposes various revisions to the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education’s Guidelines of Good Practice by higher education quality assurance agencies.

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• Carr, S., E. Hamilton, and P. Meade. 2005. Is it possible? Investigating the influence of external quality audit on university performance. Quality in Higher Education 11.3: 195–211.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538320500329665Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper explores whether it is possible to isolate independent effects of external quality audit (EQA) and concludes that effectiveness evaluations have a stronger foundation when the combined effects of university governance and management initiatives and government initiatives are examined together with EQA.

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• Dill, D. D. 2010. We can’t go home again: Insights from a quarter century of experiments in external academic quality assurance. Quality in Higher Education 16.2: 159–161.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538322.2010.485725Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Provides an overview of external academic quality assurance for the last twenty-five years which can help design more effective framework conditions for assuring academic standards.

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• Genis, E. 2002. A perspective on tensions between external quality assurance requirements and institutional quality assurance development: A case study. Quality in Higher Education 8.1: 63–70.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538320220127443Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper reviews the development of quality assurance in technikons, and identifies some of the tensions between institutional quality assurance approaches and the approach of the external accreditation body.

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• Shah, M., and C. S. Nair. 2013. External quality audits: Has it improved quality assurance in universities? Oxford: Woodhead.

  DOI: 10.1533/9781780633169Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  An edited volume that provides a comprehensive overview of international higher education audit and accreditation practice. This breadth of issues considered by the authors includes an assessment of external audit processes, language and effectiveness, and the impact of external audit on institutions and on student learning.

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Academic Standards

Defining, maintaining, and assuring academic standards within higher education is fundamental to regulation in higher education. However, the definitions and parameters of academic standards within higher education are dynamic as traditional benchmarks and standards of achievement are shifting in response to new demands and contexts. Coates 2010 argues that greater capability for the measurement and assessment of specific academic standards is crucial to advancing the quality of higher education, using the Australian context to frame his discussion. Other key theorists in the area of academic standards (Dill and Beerkens 2012) provide a comparative study of policy frameworks for the assurance of academic standards within various regulatory contexts including market driven, professionally based, and state-led situations. More recently Dill 2014 provides an overview of the US context and draws on international practice for future reforms.

• Coates, H. 2010. Defining and monitoring academic standards in Australian higher education. Higher Education Management and Policy 22.1: 1–17.

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  This paper outlines the need for adopting a more scientific approach to specifying and assessing academic standards in higher education by advancing a definition of academic standards, and exploring indicators of academic quality.

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• Dill, D. D. 2014. Ensuring academic standards in US higher education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 46.3: 53–59.

  DOI: 10.1080/00091383.2014.910043Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper discusses recent contexts for assuring academic standards in the United States and advances recommendations for reforms to the US accreditation based on international practices.

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• Dill, D., and M. Beerkens. 2012. Designing the framework conditions for assuring academic standards: Lessons learned about professional, market, and government regulation of academic quality. Higher Education 65.3: 341–357.

  DOI: 10.1007/s10734-012-9548-xSave Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper acknowledges the new demands of mass systems of higher education globally and the emergence of policy frameworks to assure academic standards. The authors provide a comparative study of fourteen policy contexts and identify strengths and weaknesses.

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Challenges and Tensions of Regulation

The tensions surrounding the regulation of standards in higher education are manifold. This section provides an overview of the critical debates that challenge the role and impact of accreditation and ultimately regulation from perspectives of institutional and academic autonomy. As external accreditation and quality assurance frameworks of the early 1990s have evolved into regulatory frameworks, arguments that highlight the loss of academic autonomy have emerged. Benjamin 1994 suggests this loss of autonomy impacts on student learning, while more recently Brennan 2016 argues that external accreditation regimes diminish the role of students in the quality agenda. The scholarship surrounding notions of institutional autonomy in the face of external regulation reflects the long history of cultural, political, and academic freedoms associated with universities and the problematic relationship between universities and the state (Jarvis 2014). As Amaral, et al. 2009 explores, culturally specific factors concerning institutional autonomy are important considerations for assessing specific regional contexts for the regulation and accreditation of academic standards. As higher education systems expand globally, public policies to stimulate participation from underrepresented groups have been considered in recent scholarship. The challenges and perceived tension between equity and academic standards are explored by Martin 2009 and Whiteford, et al. 2013.

• Amaral, A., M. J. Rosa, and D. A. Tavares. 2009. Supra-national accreditation, trust and institutional autonomy. Higher Education Management and Policy 21.3: 1–18.

  DOI: 10.1787/hemp-21-5ksf24qcgm45Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  The paper analyzes changes in regulation of higher education in the United States and Europe and offers a possible interpretation for the differences on the two sides of the Atlantic.

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• Benjamin, E. 1994. From accreditation to regulation: The decline of academic autonomy in higher education. Academe 80.4: 34–36.

  DOI: 10.2307/40250640Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper suggests a correlation between loss of academic autonomy in the regulation of standards in higher education and the impact on student learning.

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• Brennan, J. 2016. Making a difference: The roles of markets and the roles of quality assurance regimes. In Dimensions of marketisation in higher education. Edited by P. John and J. Fanghanel. London: Taylor and Francis.

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  In this chapter Brennan argues that external regulation of higher education has diminished institutional autonomy and in turn displaces the student voice to the periphery. Brennan calls for greater student involvement in quality assurance regimes.

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• Jarvis, D. S. L. 2014. Regulating higher education: Quality assurance and neo-liberal managerialism in higher education: A critical introduction. Policy and Society 33.3: 155–166.

  DOI: 10.1016/j.polsoc.2014.09.005Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Jarvis provides an analysis of the historically uneasy relationship between universities and the state, and the new challenges for assuring standards and accountability within a changed higher education landscape.

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• Martin, M. 2009. On the relationship of external quality assurance and equity: Can they converge on national policy agendas? Quality in Higher Education 15.3: 251–262.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538320903343156Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper presents the findings of exploratory research on the relationship of external quality assurance (EQA) systems and equity policies conducted at the UNESCO Institute for Educational Planning.

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• Whiteford, G., M. Shah, and C. S. Nair. 2013. Equity and excellence are not mutually exclusive: A discussion of academic standards in an era of widening participation. Quality Assurance in Education 21.3: 299–310.

  DOI: 10.1108/QAE-Apr-2012-0020Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  The paper argues that contemporary trends such as increasing student diversity, changing pattern of student participation, differentiated levels of preparedness for tertiary education, and new modes of learning, will continue to grow and will not in and of themselves affect academic standards.

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Regional Overviews

Regulatory frameworks vary from country to country and within regions. The regulation of standards in higher education has taken different paths in different countries, stemming from different stages of development and different public policy priorities. Scholars (represented in such works as Bie and Yi 2014, cited under Asia; Shah and Jarzabkowski 2013, cited under Australia; Brown and Bekhradnia 2013, cited under the United Kingdom, and Dill 2010, cited under External Quality Assurance and Audit) provide developments and challenges pertaining to specific countries and higher education systems. Other overviews pertain to specific geographical regions, and examine and compare regulatory regimes between countries (such as Mok 2008, cited under Asia; and Gornitzka and Stensaker 2014 and Horga 2009, both cited under Europe). In some instances, overviews provide the effect of regulation on specific characteristics such as leadership (Bajunid 2011, cited under Asia); governance (Boer and Goedegebuure 2007, cited under Europe); and quality assurance (Probert 2015, cited under Australia).

Transnational/Cross-Border Education

As higher education increasingly becomes a global and technologically enabled industry, the issue of transnational and cross border provision of educational services presents a significant challenge to national and regional systems of regulation that are often not equipped to respond to complex global arrangements. The structures and systems for regulating higher education are usually designed based on traditional delivery methods and tailored to regional contexts, laws, and frameworks. As national boundaries are no longer a barrier to providing education globally, and as institutions seek to increase their footprint in global markets by the introduction of regional campuses, regulation and other issues of quality assurance become increasingly problematized. This section seeks to present a range of texts that highlight many of the challenges and experiences in regulating transnational or borderless higher education. Farrington 2001 provides an analysis of many of these issues including academic and legal complexities such as intellectual property rights, while Hunt 2009 highlights the complex issue of recognition by discussing cooperating strategies between the US and European systems. Specific regional experiences in the regulation of transnational education are discussed by Lane, et al. 2013 whose study of the US experience provides insights into government responses to the import and export of higher education, while Lieven and Martin 2006 discusses the implications and effects of unregulated transnational higher education by analyzing foreign provision in Israel in the 1990s. The issue of transnational or borderless higher education is particularly pertinent to developing countries where national systems are rapidly expanding and where international providers seek to establish new opportunities. Martin 2007 provides a useful analysis of such issues through a comparative study of six developing countries, while Stella and Gnanam 2005 clarifies the issues of cross-border education specifically for the Indian context. McBurnie and Ziguras 2001 considers the issue of transnational education in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the implications for South East Asia.

• Farrington, D. J. 2001. Borderless higher education: Challenges to regulation, accreditation and intellectual property rights. Minerva 39.1: 63–84.

  DOI: 10.1023/A:1010322318781Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Drawing on recommendations from the World Trade Organization and the Council of Europe to introduce an international database of accredited institutions, this paper highlights the complexities of borderless higher education for the regulation of standards.

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• Hunt, E. S. 2009. Transatlantic recognition issues: Seeking new directions in the twenty‐first century. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 16.1: 65–81.

  DOI: 10.1080/09695940802704112Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper discusses the transatlantic cooperation between US and European higher education systems.

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• Lane, J. E., K. Kinser, and D. Knox. 2013. Regulating cross-border higher education: A case study of the United States. Higher Education Policy 26.2: 147–172.

  DOI: 10.1057/hep.2012.23Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Drawing on a principal-agent framework, this study uses the United States, which is an amalgamation of more than fifty independent regulatory systems, to analyze how governments regulate the importing and exporting of public colleges and universities.

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• Lieven, M., and G. Martin. 2006. Higher education in a global market: The case of British overseas provision in Israel. Higher Education 52.1: 41–68.

  DOI: 10.1007/s10734-004-6374-9Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper discusses the Israeli unregulated market in higher education for foreign providers in the 1990s.

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• Martin, M. 2007. Cross-Border Higher Education: Regulation Quality Assurance and Impact. Vol. 1, Chile, Oman, Philippines, South Africa. New Trends in Higher Education. Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning.

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  This paper analyzes the current status, existing mechanisms for the regulation and quality assurance, and the impact of transnational commercial provision on the higher education system in six developing countries and a country in transition.

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• McBurnie, G., and C. Ziguras. 2001. The regulation of transnational higher education in Southeast Asia: Case studies of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia. Higher Education 42.1: 85–105.

  DOI: 10.1023/A:1017572119543Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper examines the approaches of three Southeast Asian governments––Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Australia––to the regulation of transnational education within their borders in light of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the impact on local systems.

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• Stella, A., and A. Gnanam. 2005. Cross‐border higher education in India: False understandings and true overestimates. Quality in Higher Education 11.3: 227–237.

  DOI: 10.1080/13538320500329863Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This paper explores the false understandings and overestimations that shape the arguments about cross‐border education in the Indian context.

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Journals

The field draws from multiple sources of journals within the field of higher education including Higher Education, Higher Education Management and Policy, Higher Education Policy, Higher Education in Europe, Higher Education Quarterly, Higher Education Research and Development, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Quality in Higher Education, and Tertiary Education and Management.

• Higher Education. 1972–.

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  International perspectives on development of higher education throughout the world.

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• Higher Education in Europe. 1976–2010.

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  Focuses on higher education in Europe.

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• Higher Education Quarterly. 1947–.

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  Publishes international articles concerned with policy, strategic management, and ideas in higher education.

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• Higher Education Management and Policy. 1977–2012.

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  Covering practice and policy in the field of system and institutional management through articles and reports on research projects of wide international scope.

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• Higher Education Policy. 1988–.

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  The focus of journal articles range from case studies of developments in individual institutions to policymaking at system and supra-national levels.

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• Higher Education Research and Development. 1982–.

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  The journal publishes scholarly articles that make a significant and original contribution to the theory, practice, or research of higher education.

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• Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. 1979–.

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  An international journal of professional experience and ideas in post-secondary education.

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• Quality in Higher Education. 1995–.

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  Journal aims at those interested in the theory, practice, and policies relating to the control, management, and improvement of quality in higher education.

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• Research in Higher Education. 1973–.

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  Examines issues within post-secondary education, with special attention to advance quantitative research methods and/or articles that inform or analyze educational policy.

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• Tertiary Education and Management. 1995–2006.

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  An international peer-reviewed publication intended to create a better linkage of research, policy, and practice in teaching and learning as well as in higher education management, governance, and organization.

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