Degree (program) accreditations:
They are the culmination of quality control process carried out by external organizations.
In many countries, the basic control function is performed by state (or state-related) organizations, and their evaluation is mandatory (i.e. they indicate the degree program that is to be audited and the university must undergo the verification procedure). In Poland, such an agency is the Polish Accreditation Committee (PAC). PAC indicates the degree programs to be inspected at selected universities, but it is not possible to check all degrees at all Polish universities. As a result, approximately a dozen degrees are accredited at KUE, which should be considered a good cross-section of verification of the quality of education among all (50+) degrees offered at KUE.
Internationally (especially in Western countries) there are other (non-state) organizations accrediting degree programs, most often operating as “non-profit” entities, which also verify the quality of education. Their procedures are not mandatory – universities request a procedure to check a specific degree. Universities choose an agency in terms of specific benefits: especially the international prestige of the accreditation granted, the improvement of the position in rankings or the recognition of this foreign certificate in the national system. KUE is accredited by such agencies as ACQUIN, EFMD EPAS, AESOP and is applying for other accreditations.
Institutional accreditations:
Some international agencies also offer “institutional” accreditations, the control process of which focuses on the functioning of the university in a holistic context or in a selected aspect (e.g. institution-wide internationalization). In these procedures, quality of education in verified on selected or all degrees (depending on the agency’s system), but the agency’s attention is focused on the university systems. Currently, KUE is a member of the American AACSB and is in the process of pursuing AACSB’s business accreditation, which is one of the three most prestigious accreditations in the world, the so-called “triple crown”.
Professional body accreditations (alternatively called certifications):
Some industry organizations, especially international ones, promote specific standards of education in the field of their activities (e.g. finance, accounting, IT, banking). Meeting the expected educational content and knowledge standards of these institutions, especially in the form of introducing subjects and topics that these agencies consider to be crucial, allows for obtaining an educational certificate and ensuring “exemptions” from certain professional exams of such organizations. Completing a degree that holds such certification provide graduates with better/faster employment. KUE is accredited by such international institutions as ACCA, CIMA, CFA, or the Polish PTL.
PLEASE NOTE:
Krakow University of Economics is a public university with academic status. KUE may independently (i.e. without the need to obtain the Minister’s permission) create degree programs within a specific discipline or a leading discipline in which it has achieved a research category of A+, A or B+ (in the Polish research framework). KUE degree programs are created without a time limit that would require external verification (in Poland, this means accreditation by Polish Accreditation Committee). Quality control of education in the form of a program review is carried out on the initiative of the PAC and occurs in accordance with the schedule set by the Committee. This means that in a given academic year, the degrees designated for program accreditation are a select group chosen by PAC from among all degrees at all universities in Poland (including KUE). Thus, the KUE degrees that have a PAC programme accreditation are those that have been selected for accreditation by the Committee in recent years.
As for non-compulsory accreditations offered by accreditation agencies (domestic and foreign) – not all degrees of the University have or will have degree/industry accreditations/certifications, as KUE makes strategic decisions in this regard, taking into account the availability of procedures and maximizing the benefits resulting from them.