THEQC Welcomes Program Accreditation Agencies in Türkiye in a Stakeholder Meeting
THEQC Welcomes Program Accreditation Agencies in Türkiye in a Stakeholder Meeting
The Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC) organised a ”Stakeholder Meeting for National Accreditation Agencies”.
President Prof. Ümit Kocabıçak, Vice-President Prof. Mustafa Çufalı, representatives of national accreditation agencies and THEQC’s staff attended the meeting held at the July 15th Meeting and Conference Hall of the Council of Higher Education on 14 October 2025.
President Kocabıçak, in his opening speech, stated that THEQC organised this stakeholder meeting with program accreditation agencies for the first time with wide participation, noting that similar stakeholder meetings would be organised in the future too. Stating that THEQC was in contact with stakeholders, such as the Council of Higher Education (CoHE), the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) and HEIs, Prof. Kocabıçak said, “As with our other stakeholders, it is crucial for us to receive feedback from program accreditation agencies, which are our most important stakeholders in the field of program accreditation.”
Speaking about the history of quality assurance studies in higher education, President Kocabıçak expressed that the accreditation processes of HEIs had been carried out through program accreditation and the Institutional Accreditation Program (IAP), there were several newly-established universities in Türkiye, and accreditation processes were significant to reflect the increase in quantity to quality.
President Kocabıçak stated that THEQC had been working hard to promote the quality assurance culture and that such meetings were important for improving the social perception of the concept of quality assurance.
Sharing statistical information about higher education, President Kocabıçak said, “In Türkiye, there are more than forty thousand active study programs in higher education that grant diplomas. The quality assurance processes of these study programs are carried out through program accreditation. Meanwhile, the program accreditation rate increased to 20%. Currently, there are 100 HEIs holding institutional accreditation. By 2027, we aim for all institutions to have gone through the IAP process.”
President Kocabıçak mentioned that THEQC had the competence to accredit universities in Türkiye as well as in the international arena, and said that through the International Institutional Accreditation Program (IIAP), a cross-border accreditation process had been started for two HEIs, one from Bosnia-Herzegovina and the other from Albania, adding that the accreditation process would be initiated in HEIs in the TRNC too.
After the opening speech, the agenda items were discussed in three sessions. The sessions included discussions under many topics, such as full alignment of the evaluation criteria of program accreditation agencies with ESG 1 standards, full alignment of external evaluation methodologies with ESG 2 standards, full compliance with ESG in authorisation applications to THEQC, publication of program external evaluation/accreditation reports, standardisation of fee practices, appeal process against accreditation decision, accreditation process, and accreditation periods. The one-day stakeholder meeting ended with a commemorative photo shoot.
