More universities seek external accreditation

Roughly 40 miles, or 64 kilometres, from the bustling, historic city of Fez, a public university in a Moroccan mountain range is seeking American accreditation, writes Sarah Lynch for Al-Fanar.

With its business school, language centre and computer science programme already accredited by agencies overseas, Al Akhawayn University, which teaches in English, is pursuing an international stamp of approval for the whole institution. “Why do we do this? It’s part of our quality assurance process,” said Cherif Bel Fekih, executive director for development and communication. “It’s an opportunity to improve, change and adapt, and bring the programmes to the required standards.”

Seeking to raise educational quality, enhance the value of offered degrees and claim prestige, a growing number of universities and programmes across the Arab world are seeking accreditation from external agencies, largely in Europe or the United States.
Full report on the Al-Fanar site