Capacity and willingness in higher education accreditation: when incentives are not enough
通过阿根廷认证机构与高校的访谈，发现行政负担、资源不足和信息获取困难是影响认证执行与合规的关键因素，对政策制定者有启示。
Accreditation as a form of quality assurance has spread worldwide. As a result, the public and research interests have targeted the policies that developed agencies and procedures and the responses and effects of accreditation on higher education organizations and programs. However, studies on accreditation have not analyzed two core aspects: the capacity and willingness of the accreditation agencies and the programs to perform their functions. Through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the regulatory agencies and universities, this study explores the issue of capacity and willingness in higher education accreditation by studying the functioning of an accreditation agency in Argentina and the responses of organizations and programs to the accreditation process. The results show that three key factors may affect accreditation monitoring, enforcement, and compliance: administrative burden, inadequate resources, and information availability. The findings are relevant beyond the national context and have research and policy implications.