The impact of accreditation on the reform of study programmes in Germany

Abstract

The Bologna Process put in motion a series of reforms for higher education. In Germany, the “Bologna reform” focused national standards and guidelines which served as criteria for obligatory programme accreditation by external bodies. This article reports on the results of an empirical study that examined the effects and limitations of accreditation as a means of monitoring the reform of study programmes. An analysis of 1 380 accreditation decisions taken in the Federal State of Lower Saxony between July 2004 and December 2009 and a series of interviews of key actors in the state’s 36 higher education institutions gave rise to a better understanding of whether accreditation does in fact support HEIs’ quality assurance goals.