Fall 2025
Introduction
As the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) continues its mission to advance academic quality, integrity, and accountability in higher education, we enter a new chapter under the leadership of Dr. Nasser Paydar, CHEA’s newly appointed President. Dr. Paydar brings to this role a distinguished record of service in higher education and a steadfast commitment to equity, excellence, and global collaboration. His vision emphasizes strengthening trust in accreditation, fostering innovation in quality assurance, and deepening international partnerships at a time of rapid transformation and uncertainty.
In this issue, we explore the evolving landscape of accreditation and quality assurance in the United States and beyond. Through insights from institutional leaders, global experts, and CHEA’s international partners, we examine how higher education systems are responding to regulatory shifts, technological disruption, and calls for greater transparency and relevance.
Highlights include a reflection on “controlling the controllables” amid shifting regulatory frameworks, a global perspective on maintaining academic quality in turbulent times, and a look at Europe’s journey toward embedding fundamental values in higher education policy. We also share updates on CHEA’s growing international engagement, including recent delegations from Africa, China, and Qatar, and preview upcoming events focused on the future of accreditation and the transformative role of artificial intelligence.
Together, these contributions underscore CHEA’s unwavering dedication to collaboration, innovation, and leadership in advancing trust and quality across borders. Under Dr. Paydar’s guidance, CHEA reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that higher education continues to serve the public good—anchored in integrity, informed by evidence, and responsive to the changing needs of learners and societies worldwide.
A Message from CHEA's New President, Dr. Nasser Paydar
Controlling the Controllables: International Lessons on Quality Assurance in Uncertain Regulatory Times
Across the United States, there is growing speculation about what the future holds for accreditation and higher education regulation. Federal proposals, state mandates, and partisan rhetoric often seem to shift overnight. Institutions are investing significant energy and anxiety into decoding what these changes might mean, who they might affect first, and how best to prepare for a future that feels more reactive than planned. Yet for much of the world, this ambiguity is not new. Institutions operating internationally have long navigated layered, sometimes contradictory regulatory frameworks. They have learned not only to respond to shifting policies, but to build quality systems that can withstand and even thrive amid change. Perhaps it is time for U.S.-based institutions to take note.
At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, we are not strangers to this complexity. We maintain specialized accreditations with AABI, ABET, ACBSP, and other disciplinary bodies; adhere to the standards of our institutional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC); comply with 28 U.S. state authorizing agencies; operate under the NC-SARA reciprocity agreement; and meet the educational requirements of eight different foreign governments. In addition to these regulatory structures, we operate more than 100 off-campus instructional sites across multiple continents and offer courses and programs online to students around the world. We are fully immersed in the reality that compliance is not uniform, predictable, or always transparent. But rather than let that become an excuse for confusion or inaction, we have taken a different approach: we focus on what we can control. READ MORE.
Photo: Will Miller, Associate Vice President for Continuous Improvement and Institutional Performance SACSCOC Liaison, Office of Continuous Improvement and Institutional Performance (OCIIP), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Response: Holding to the Quality Compass in Troubled Times
As rightly mentioned in the above article, universities have operated in unstable environments and uncertain times for a long time. While the new challenges faced today by higher education and quality assurance systems, such as the rapid spread of artificial intelligence and ideological assaults on scientific research and social sciences, may appear unsettling or even overwhelming, they are not entirely unprecedented. The great economic recession between December 2007 and early 2009 had a severe impact on university finances in many parts of the world. The digital revolution of the past two decades has brought about a substantial transformation of programs, curricula and course content. Universities have often been under extreme political threat in previous historical periods (Nazi era, Chinese cultural revolution, McCarthyism). Wars and civil strife have forced hundreds of thousands of students and academics to become internally displaced people or refugees in exile.
More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps the most disruptive event experienced by universities and colleges in the history of higher education, accelerated the move to online and hybrid teaching and learning. On top of everything else, the climate crisis and the major disorders it causes represent an ominous existential menace not just for higher education but for humanity itself. READ MORE.
Photo: Jamil Salmi, Global Tertiary Education Expert
Tracking a Remarkable Intellectual Political Journey: Building a European Higher Education Area Furthering the Fundamental Values of Higher Education
This chapter, part of an open access book, “The Future of Higher Education - Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference," identifies and discusses a remarkable dimension of the process of building the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which concerns the fundamental values of higher education. From their very start, the Bologna Process and the EHEA have included references to values. The chapter tracks how these references evolved over 25 years from being unsystematic and not very central from a policy point of view to becoming a well-articulated and solid intellectual and policy framework for the entire Process. In 2018, members of the EHEA adopted a defined list of six EHEA “fundamental values of higher education”. They are now completing a process of adopting shared EHEA definitions for each fundamental value, have made explicit commitments about how they are expected to further in practice these values as jointly defined (“protect” “and “promote” the fundamental values), and have agreed in principle to implement a monitoring mechanism to assess how these commitments are implemented in all systems. In order to track and interpret the milestones and overall trajectory of this development, the chapter relies on an analysis of the Bologna Ministerial Communiqués. Other official documents are also considered, along with relevant contributions from the scholarship of the Bologna Process and EHEA.
Chapter authors (L-R): Sjur Bergan-Former Head, Education Department at Council of Europe; and Liviu Matei-Head of School & Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy. King's College London
CHEA Welcomes Three International Delegations in September 2025
By Quality International News Staff
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) continued to demonstrate its leadership in advancing global dialogue on quality assurance by hosting three international delegations during September 2025. These meetings underscored CHEA’s role as a trusted convener and partner in strengthening higher education worldwide.
African Higher Education Leaders – September 10, 2025
CHEA President Nasser Paydar, Vice President for Recognition Services Loretta Waldron, and Vice President for Research and International Initiatives Michelle Claville welcomed a group of nine university leaders from across Africa, visiting under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Organized by the Mississippi Consortium for International Development, the delegation included senior academics and administrators from Algeria, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, and Nigeria.
Discussions centered on the U.S. accreditation process, its role in international collaboration, and how accreditation supports institutional quality, student mobility, and global partnerships. The visit aligned with IVLP’s objectives of exploring best practices in university administration, partnerships, research, and student success.
Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange – September 19, 2025
A second delegation, representing the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), met with CHEA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Jan Friis, Vice President Waldron, and Vice President Claville. CSCSE, under the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, is the sole official body evaluating foreign credentials for recognition in China.
The conversation focused on accreditation’s role in credential evaluation, combating degree mills, and fostering mutual trust in international higher education. CSCSE officials emphasized CHEA’s recognition standards as a vital global reference point, noting that CSCSE has evaluated more than 3 million applications from 130 countries since its founding in 1989.
Qatar Ministry of Education – September 23, 2025
CHEA was also honored to host a delegation from Qatar’s Ministry of Education, facilitated by the Qatar Cultural Attaché Office in Washington, D.C. President Paydar, Vice President Waldron, and Vice President Claville received four officials from the University Degree Equivalency Department.
The delegation sought to deepen understanding of U.S. accreditation, CHEA’s recognition process, and the standards of quality that underpin U.S. higher education. The meeting highlighted shared goals of ensuring fairness and consistency in the recognition of degrees and supporting international student mobility.
CHEA’s Ongoing Global Commitment
CHEA’s September engagements reflect its ongoing commitment to international cooperation, transparency, and dialogue in quality assurance. By convening diverse global partners—from Africa, China, and Qatar—CHEA continues to advance its mission of promoting quality, accountability, and trust in higher education worldwide.
As higher education systems confront challenges of access, mobility, and workforce alignment, CHEA’s role as a connector across borders remains more important than ever.
Webinar: Artificial Intelligence in the Service of Global Quality Assurance in Higher Education
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping higher education—transforming teaching, learning, and assessment, while raising pressing questions about quality, integrity, and trust. This timely webinar brings together leading global experts to explore how AI can be applied responsibly in support of quality assurance. Topics include tools for quality enhancement and policy development, safeguarding academic integrity, learning analytics, the role of generative AI in practice, and strategies for faculty and staff development in the AI era.
Participants will gain practical insights into the opportunities and challenges institutions and accreditors face as they navigate AI’s impact on sustaining and advancing educational quality. Presenters include Fabrice Hénard, CEO of INQAAHE, who has led international collaborations on education quality assurance, and Bert Verhoeven, a pioneer of Australia’s GenAI-first Innovation & Entrepreneurship program. Together, they will highlight actionable approaches to ensure higher education adapts with integrity in a rapidly changing landscape.
CHEA/CIQG 2026 Annual Conference
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is pleased to announce its 2026 Annual Conference, Leading with Integrity in a Shifting Landscape: Innovation, Accountability, and the Future of Accreditation, taking place January 26–29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. This year’s theme highlights both the challenges and opportunities facing accreditation today, affirming the vital role of values-based leadership as institutions and accreditors navigate regulatory changes, rising expectations for student outcomes, and debates over autonomy and innovation.
“Leading with Integrity” reflects CHEA’s commitment to upholding academic quality and standards, advancing transparency and the use of student success data for continuous improvement, and embracing innovation responsibly without compromising rigor. The conference will also explore how accreditation can promote equitable student outcomes, foster ethical leadership and collaboration, and address the evolving role of accreditors in both national and global contexts. Additional details about registration will be available soon, and we look forward to welcoming you in Washington, D.C.
Announcements
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is thrilled to announce the 2026 Continuous Improvement Summit, a four-day virtual experience designed for faculty, staff, and institutional leaders committed to meaningful change. This year’s theme — Charting New Horizons — speaks directly to where we are as a field and where we must go next. This year’s summit challenges you to think beyond traditional models and bureaucratic checklists. Instead, we’ll focus on strategies that drive measurable impact, foster institutional agility, and prioritize student learning, engagement, and success across all parts of the university. February 24-27 from 11-4 eastern time. More info at: https://erau.edu/continuous-improvement/continuous-improvement-summit
Submissions
Remember that you are invited to submit articles or op-eds that focus on current topics relevant to quality assurance and international higher education. After reviewing the Quality International Newsletter Guidelines, please submit your articles, op-eds, announcements by November 24, 2025, for consideration of inclusion in the Winter 2025 issue of QI News.
The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation,
its International Quality Group, its Board, or its members.
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