Regulation and Accountability: Systems and Governmental Contexts

Governmental contexts shape regulation and accountability in higher education. Regulations and accountability are mechanisms and processes that ensure quality, fairness, and transparency in delivering education services. Governments implement these mechanisms to ensure that higher education institutions comply with specific standards and to ensure that they are held accountable for their performance. These policies and regulations may address issues like access, affordability, quality assurance, program accreditation, and student outcomes through regulatory frameworks designed to ensure that higher education institutions meet specific standards and operate in a manner that is transparent and accountable to shareholders and stakeholders. 

This module has three subsections: Higher Education Institutions and Systems, Regulations and Types of Control, and Regulatory Frameworks. Each subsection contains definitions and international examples (e.g., from the U.S., Europe, and Asia). 

1. Differentiate higher education institutions and systems by describing various institutions, policies, laws, and systems that govern and regulate higher education.

2. Identify regulations and types of control that reign accountability in public and private universities.

3. Assess higher education regulatory frameworks based on system and governance contexts.  

It is essential that administrators consider internal and external forces that influence management and strategic planning when developing reforms in higher education. Socioeconomic challenges, technological breakthroughs, and educational crises are transforming higher education. Internal and external systemic trends in higher education include: 

• Globalization

• Democratization

• Standardization

• Competency-based paradigm

• Equal opportunities.

However, higher education is a priority worldwide and mostly under state control, except in the US. European education systems are undergoing modernization due to the Bologna agreement and geopolitical crisis. Systematic innovations are required to advance education and change its role as a controlled process. Furthermore, state policy, economic conditions, technology, and market relations influence higher education management. Finally, a key strategy is an adaptive management approach and strategic planning to reduce the risks of educational reforms entitles.

Management of higher education can work in two modes.

1. 1. 1. Functioning: This mode aims to efficiently use the existing educational system capacity.

      2. Development: This mode suggests positive changes through innovative mechanisms and emphasizes educational activities and the performance of management. This mode is characterized by continuous improvement of academic results and the control system of the development of higher education at all levels of the hierarchy. It emphasizes the need for flexibility, adaptability, situational, and dynamic adjustment of goals and objectives in the implementation of social responsibilities of each participant in the educational system. The methodological framework involves methodological, organizational, content, and technological transformations to achieve fundamental changes in education.

(Read more in Levina et al., 2016)