What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a formal recognition of an educational institution or a degree program by an external authorized agency based on some well-defined and documented criteria and standards. To get accredited, the program or institution need to meet and/or exceed the Norms and Standard prescribed by the regulator from time to time. This external verification helps the students to get recognized by stakeholders for the quality and relevance of the education they completed.
What is the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)?
NAAC is an autonomous institution established by UGC to assess the performance evaluation of an institution. They will evaluate the overall functioning of the institution based on the defined criteria and score the institution with grade C being the least and A++ being the best. The NAAC accreditation is valid for a term of five years.
The NAAC assessment and accreditation are based on the following criteria
- Curricular Aspects
- Teaching-learning & Evaluation
- Research, Innovations & Extension
- Infrastructure & Learning Resources
- Student Support & Progression
- Governance, Leadership & Management
- Institutional Values & Best Practices
What is the National Board of Accreditation (NBA)?
NBA is more specific in that it accredits programs instead of the whole institution. This is more helpful as some institutions may have a mix of excellent departments as well as average departments. The process, parameters, and criteria for accreditation used by the NBA are in line with the best international practices and oriented to assess the outcome of the program. The objective of the body is to assure the quality and relevance of education in professional and technical disciplines. The body ensures students a quality and relevant education to the expectation of stakeholders from an accredited program.
Last year Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) announced that they have discovered 1400 fake engineers out of which 75% to 80% were from India. As a result, the society had decided to only grant NOCs (to live and work in the country) to engineers graduating from NBA accredited Programs. Graduates from non-accredited programs were forced to work for a lower level designation with a lower salary. The same is expected to be implemented by many other countries for both job and higher education.
Benefits of being graduated from the NBA Program?
- Accreditation encourages the institutions to continuously improve and
- enhance the quality as they are voluntarily accepting inspection for the quality of the education provided by them.
- Being internationally recognized, accreditation facilitates transnational recognition of degrees and mobility of graduates and professionals. More than education, it also improves staff morale, recognizes achievements or innovations, promotes intra and inter-Institutional interactions.
- As said before many of the countries may only accept students from an NBA accredited program for jobs. You may see NBA accredited badge on the college’s website and other promotional media. Please cross-check whether the program you opt for is accredited or not and is valid.
FAQs
Q: What is the difference between NAAC and NBA?
The primary difference is NAAC is an Institute level accreditation, whereas the NBA is accreditation for an individual program.
Q: Which programs come under accreditation by NBA?
All Diploma, Degree (Under-graduate and Post-graduate) programs in the following disciplines are covered under accreditation by NBA:
- Engineering & Technology;
- Computer Applications;
- Pharmacy;
- Management;
- Hotel Management and Catering Technology; and
- Architecture
Q: Who can apply for accreditation by NBA?
Your Institution can; If your Institution and the programs run by it are approved by the AICTE; and If at least two batches of students have passed out of the program proposed for accreditation except for the management programs. In the case of a Management program, at least three batches should have graduated.
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