Croatia

• Governmental membership
  Croatia has been a Governmental Member of EQAR since September 2011.

  Map: EHEA countries by governmental membership

• General information on higher education

  Higher education in Croatia is offered through universities and their constituents - faculties and academies of arts, polytechnics and colleges. Universities offer bachelor, master and doctoral programs. Polytechnics offer professional bachelor and professional master programs. Colleges offer only professional bachelor progams.

  The higher education system is regulated by the Act on Scientific Activity and Higher Education (see link below).

• National external quality assurance requirements

  • Accreditation of higher education institutions and programmes
    in all three cycles (every five years).

  • Audit of higher education institutions.
    assessment of the quality assurance system of a higher education institution or a faculty (legal changes are envisaged to make audit a voluntary activity).

  • Initial accreditation
    all new higher education institutions (public and private) and all new study programmes of private universities, polytechnics and colleges. Public universities do not undergo an initial accreditation.

  • Re-accreditation of doctoral study programmes
    carried out as a cluster evaluation of the third cycle.

• EHEA key commitment

  Fully aligned with the ESG

  A fully functioning quality assurance system is in operation nationwide, in which all higher education institutions are subject to regular external quality assurance by an agency that has successfully demonstrated compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG) through registration on EQAR

  Map: implementation of the EHEA key commitment

• Cross-border quality assurance

  Not recognising foreign agencies as part of the national external QA requirements

  Map: recognition of cross-border quality assurance

• European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

  European Approach available to all higher education institutions

  Following the adoption of the Act on the Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Science" (Official Gazette 151/2022, link below) Croatian higher education institutions offering joint study programmes with a foreign higher education institution have to be accredited in accordance with the European Approach (EA). In case the EA is carried out by a foreign EQAR-registered QA agency, the Croatian higher education institution shall, following the accreditation procedure, submit the report and decision on the conducted accreditation procedure to the Croatian QA agency (ASHE). If the decision on accreditation is positive, ASHE shall recognise the decision and issue a licence for the delivery of the joint study programme.

  Map: availability of the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes

• Permalink
  https://data.deqar.eu/country/43/
• Further information

  • Information on ongoing implementation of the European Approach

  • Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (in Croatian)

  • Enic Naric

  • Ministry responsible for higher education

  • Croatia - European Higher Education Area

Registered agencies operating in Croatia