ACCREDITATION, RECOGNITION AND EQUIVALENCE
ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Accreditation: Accreditation is a review process to determine if educational programs meet defined academic standards of quality by the Council of Higher Education. Its purpose is the improvement of academic quality, transparency and accountability.
RECOGNITION IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Recognition applications of foreign Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are determined according to the related articles in the Regulations on Recognition and Equivalence of Foreign Higher Education, which was formed in parallel with The Lisbon Recognition Convention Qualifications (Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region) and Article 7/p of Higher Education Law No. 2547.
According to above Regulations, these are the criteria of being recognized as a higher education institution and an educational program:
i. To be recognized by the origin country's competent authorities,
ii. To be accredited by the related accreditation or quality assurance institutions,
iii. To be recognized by the Council of Higher Education.
EQUIVALENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Equivalence: The confirmation of the equivalence of Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degree diplomas taken from a foreign higher education institution which is recognized by the CoHE with Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degree diplomas taken from the higher education institutions in Turkey in terms of achievement corresponding to each educational level.
Equivalence applications are determined according to the related articles in the Regulations on Recognition and Equivalence of Foreign Higher Education, which was formed in parallel with The Lisbon Recognition Convention Qualifications (Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region) and Article 7/p of Higher Education Law No. 2547.
Equivalence Process:
Equivalence application is evaluated based on the criteria listed below:
i. The diploma issued by the recognized higher education institution should be equal in terms of minimum achievements of the Turkish higher education system,
ii. In the event of there is no matching or similar program in the Turkish higher education system, the appropriate conditions stated in the related regulations should be provided.
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Even though recognition of a higher education institution and equivalence of qualification are closely related to each other, assessment can lead to diverse decisions depending on the nature of the application. Higher education qualifications are assessed on an individual basis by specialized Commissions and the final decision is given after a detailed evaluation of the degree in comparison to the Turkish equivalent.