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In response to the challenges of enhancing quality, the agency of government which is responsible for coordinating university education in Nigeria, the National Universities Commission, evolved a system of academic programme accreditation in 1991 to ensure conformity with minimum standards and to promote quality. The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes of some of those accreditation exercises and how they have influenced the quality of and access to university education.

The paper analyses secondary source data from accreditation reports of 1999, mop up exercises and accreditation re‐visitation of 2000‐2005 and that of November 2005.

The mean percentage of programmes with full accreditation status was found to have increased from 12.6 in 1999 to 48.5 in 2005, that of programmes which got interim accreditation decreased from 72.66 in 1999 to 48.30 in 2005, while the one for programmes which were denied accreditation decreased from 17.9 in 1999 to 9.5 in 2005. Federal universities had more programmes with full accreditation and less programmes with denied accreditation status. State universities had less number of programmes with full accreditation and higher number with denied accreditation status. Generally, the results showed that accreditation status of most academic programmes improved in subsequent accreditation exercises, meaning that the deficiencies noticed were remedied. The programmes that were denied accreditation caused a reduction in the number of vacancies for student admission.

The paper focuses on federal and state universities only. Private universities are excluded.

The paper suggests that the universities in Nigeria should be closely monitored for their academic programmes to scale the accreditation hurdle.

The paper shows that accreditation of academic programmes helps to improve the quality of university education.

Accreditation in health care is a method of reviewing the quality of the organization of health care, using external surveyors and published standards. It is frequently contrasted with internal review processes in which the members of an organization develop their own methods and standards to assess quality. There is little evidence to demonstrate which, if either, of these forms of review has an impact on clinical outcomes and patient care. This paper examines the management philosophies and assumptions which are used to justify the value of accreditation, and the arguments about the relationships between structure, process and outcome, which underpin accreditation.

Clinical governance is the linchpin of the UK government's quality improvement strategy for the country's National Health Service. Extending quality accreditation programmes from hospitals into the primary care sector — local general practice surgeries — presents a critical set of challenges. In this extract from Accreditation in Primary Care, Nicola Walsh and Kieran Walshe explore how to evaluate accreditation initiatives to assure the quality of primary care.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the evolution and current status of the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), the European Foundation for Management Development's (EFMD) accreditation for high‐quality international business schools. The paper aims to analyse and describe the value of EQUIS, as well as other international accreditations, to the world of higher education in business administration.

The paper presents the viewpoint of the EFMD's Director of Quality Services on the value of international accreditation.

The value added by accreditation systems stems from three main, and often inter‐related, areas – assessment of the quality of the school based on several criteria; enhanced brand recognition from being granted a distinctive accreditation label; and contributions to the actual improvement of the school.

International accreditation does add value to business schools in a variety of ways. It is also suggested that some of the value added is specific and unique to having international accreditation and is therefore unobtainable by any other means.

The paper highlights both the similarities and differences between international accreditations available for business schools. This should facilitate the assessment of the benefits and feasibility of international accreditation by decision‐makers at international business schools around the world.

The purpose of this paper is to determine accreditation effects on Iranian military hospital health service quality through nurses’ viewpoints.

The paper is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Sampling drew from a hospital nurse census (n=160). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze participant demographics and nurses’ views. Linear regression analysis determined the independent variables’ overall effect on the accreditation quality results dimension (dependent variable).

From the nurses’ viewpoints, accreditation effects on services quality mean score was 3.60±0.61. Linear regression analysis showed that leadership and quality management were identified as the most important accreditation quality predictors. The R² value (0.698) showed that nearly 70 percent of the dependent variable changes were affected by the independent variables.

This study gives hospital managers a deeper insight into accreditation and its effects on military hospital service quality. Military hospitals benefit from military organization such as hierarchy and command chain, so managers should employ these characteristics to adopt appropriate policies to promote human resource management as a competitive advantage. Furthermore, results will guide public and private hospital managers on how to manage organizational variables that benefit from accreditation.

Accreditation was introduced as a hospital quality improvement program. However, implementing accreditation programs should be cost-effective. Hospital managers and employees should feel that accreditation can improve service quality. Nurses had positive viewpoints about accreditation and its effects on military hospital service quality.

This study examines the impact of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation on education quality. We discern the prospective influences of AACSB, focusing on shifts in teaching methods and content and assessment procedures.

Using a case study approach, in-depth interviews are conducted with a Japanese-accredited business school’s faculty members to understand their perceptions of the school’s education-quality issues. The data were thematically analyzed.

Respondents acknowledged that AACSB accreditation has positively influenced teaching, encouraging active learning and the case method. However, they also indicated that accreditation had a restrictive effect on assessment activities, pushing toward compliance rather than genuine learning evaluation. This dichotomy suggests a need for balancing standard adherence with the flexibility to maintain educational depth and assessment integrity.

Convenience sampling may introduce self-selection bias. Furthermore, the qualitative case study approach does not allow for statistical generalization. However, when combined with existing literature, the findings can be analytically generalized and transferred to other contexts.

We provide insights regarding AACSB accreditation’s impact on business education, encompassing shifts in teaching methods and content and faculty perceptions of assessment. This study enhances the scholarly understanding of business school accreditation and offers guidance to accredited or accreditation-seeking academic institutions.

This study aims to dissect the multifaceted impact of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, specifically within civil engineering testing and calibration laboratories. To achieve this, it intends to explore several key objectives: identifying the prominent benefits of accreditation to laboratory performance, understanding the advantages conferred through participation in proficiency testing schemes, assessing the role of accreditation in enhancing laboratory competitiveness, examining the primary challenges encountered during the accreditation process, investigating any discernible adverse effects of accreditation on laboratory performance and evaluating whether the financial cost of accreditation justifies the resultant profitability.

This study employs a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with 23 industry professionals—including technical managers, quality managers, external auditors and clients. Thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke’s six-stage paradigm, was utilized to interpret the data, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the accreditation’s impact.

Findings reveal that accreditation significantly enhances operational processes, fosters quality awareness and facilitates continuous improvement, contributing to greater client satisfaction. In addition, standardized operations and rigorous quality controls further result in enhanced performance metrics, such as staff capability and measurement accuracy. However, the study also uncovers the challenges of accreditation, including high resource costs and bureaucratic hurdles that can inhibit innovation and slow routine operations. Importantly, the research underscores that the impact of accreditation on profitability is not universal, but contingent upon various factors like sector-specific regulations and market demand. The study also highlights sector-specific variations in the role of accreditation as a marketing tool and differing perceptions of its value among clients. It further emphasizes the psychological stress of high-stakes evaluations during audits.

This study represents the first in-depth investigation into the impact of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation on civil engineering testing and calibration laboratories, directly contributing to the enhancement of their quality and operational standards. Providing actionable insights for laboratories, it underscores the importance of weighing accreditation costs and benefits and the necessity for a tailored approach to the unique market and regulatory landscapes they operate in.

Higher education (HE) in Slovakia is undergoing a second massive wave of transformation that is a direct post-socialist response to the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) (ESG, 2015). In Slovakia, these standards have led to the end of the previous accreditation model and the emergence of a new accreditation agency. It is through the new forms of assessment and assessment standards that one can observe the second wave of the neoliberalisation of HE in Slovakia that stems from the Bologna Process (BP). The chapter describes the nature and consequences of this second wave. The question is whether the new accreditation standards in Slovakia take into account the idea of social justice in HE and what type of effects the second wave of ‘Bologna’ neoliberalisation is having on social justice. The chapter relies on a thematic analysis of the following types of documents issued between 2002 and 2020: strategic government documents, internal regulations of the accreditation agency and course accreditation manuals. It compares the discourses on the accreditation criteria in both waves of the neoliberalisation of HE in Slovakia. The results of the analysis show that the meaning of social justice in these discourses lacks the emphasis on the social dimension particularly in the second phase of the BP in Slovakia.

In the early stages of the animated film Aladdin, the main character finds himself in a hidden cave full of treasures and artefacts beyond his wildest dreams; a ‘Cave of Wonders’. This chapter explores how annotated documentary evidence collected by early childhood teachers as part of the Proficient Teacher accreditation process in New South Wales (NSW), Australia may be a ‘Cave of Wonders’ for evidence-informed practice (EIP) in the early childhood education (ECE) sector. This is needed as most evidence currently comes from academic research and big datasets. While valuable, these types of evidence do not convey the whole picture as they miss the nuances that can be captured in teacher-generated evidence – the yet untapped ‘Cave of Wonders’. The chapter begins with a discussion of the narratives influencing the NSW early childhood sector. This information is then used to classify the ECE system according to Hood's (1998) social regulation/cohesion matrix. What follows is an exploration of the role teacher accreditation can play within this fatalist system to support ECTs engage in EIP by using and generating evidence. The chapter closes with key lessons for policy and practice.

Purpose – There is a dichotomy within library and information science (LIS) education today. It has been a long time coming, and the rise of information schools (iSchools) in LIS education, with their focus on skill sets that complement libraries and their mission but ultimately prepare students for careers and jobs outside of librarianship, is one of many contributing factors. Many accredited library programs that used to focus on preparing students for work in libraries are now expanding their courses and degrees more toward “information” rather than “libraries.” This is understandable given that many library science programs have been subsumed into other departments and colleges such as business, education, and information technology, where their expertise in educating and training students toward graduate degrees is highly regarded and where the available jobs and salaries outside of libraries are much more numerous and desirable. This chapter hopes to frame the current challenges from the perspective of one member of the ALA Committee on Accreditation (COA).

Design/Methodology/Approach – This is an opinion piece, based on the author’s current membership on COA and focus on the library profession.

Findings – As an opinion piece, there are no findings.

Originality/Value – This chapter tries to show the value of the library profession and its curriculum in today’s society.