Mission Statement of the German Accreditation Council
The German Accreditation Council is a joint institution of the states for external quality assurance of teaching and learning in Germany. It fulfils the tasks assigned to it in the Interstate Study Accreditation Treaty and actively participates in the design and further development of goals and requirements of the accreditation system in Germany.
- The German Accreditation Council is committed to academic freedom and autonomy of higher education institutions and sees the primary responsibility for the quality of teaching and learning at higher education institutions.
- It understands accreditation as a regular, external quality assurance process, which is carried out as a scientifically guided procedure with peer review and the participation of the relevant stakeholders.
- It ensures that the accreditation procedures are carried out quickly, reliably, on time and transparently from the application to the decision of the Accreditation Council. In particular, the administrative work involved in submitting applications should be kept to a minimum for higher education institutions and agencies.
- It acts in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) and the Interstate Study Accreditation Treaty as well as its implementation through corresponding decrees of the Länder.
- It ensures that accreditation decisions are taken independently of third parties and that potential conflicts of interest are prevented by means of appropriate measures.
- It promotes the dialogue between all actors involved in the accreditation system and works towards a trustful cooperation of all represented stakeholders.
- It reflects on the implementation of its tasks and regularly evaluates the feedback from higher education institutions and agencies in order to use the results for an experience-based further development of the quality assurance system and the application procedures in accordance with its legal mandate.