The legitimacy of quality assurance in higher education

Quality assurance is one of the key topics in the current higher education debate in Europe. In 2005, the ministers involved in the Bologna Process adopted a set of European guidelines for quality assurance. The matter is high on national and European agendas. In this publication, quality assurance is seen as part of the public responsibility for higher education. The contributions by policy makers and practitioners consider the role of quality assurance as an element of higher education governance and explore its function in the recognition of qualifications. Case studies illustrate its various aspects in two quite different national settings.