Quality accreditation and funding: Promoting university change through non-competitive improvement funds

Authors

  • Ana María García de Fanelli Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v20n22.2012

Keywords:

university funding, quality accreditation, higher education policy, university change.

Abstract

This paper analyzes an innovative public policy introduced in Argentina in 2004 that links public funding to the accreditation of undergraduate courses. The Ministry of Education allocated three-year non-competitive funds to public universities so that undergraduate courses that had been accredited for three years could meet their commitment to fulfill improvement plans. To study this public policy we used the case study method, selecting the most important project in terms of the amount of resources allocated and the number of courses covered: the Project for the Improvement of Teaching Engineering Programs (PROMEI). We analyzed documents and quantitative evidence, in addition to conducting in-depth interviews with key informants and semi-structured interviews with the authorities of academic units. The findings show that the majority of the total degree courses financed by PROMEI were accredited for another three-year period. Moreover, the respondents positively evaluated the impacts of this project to overcome the weaknesses of the engineering programs detected during the accreditation procedure. The positive evaluation of this public policy is related to two factors: first, diverse actors from the engineering community participated in the formulation of the policy; second, the funding items took into account the multiple factors that intervene in order to improve the teaching activity. Finally, it had an additional unexpected effect by contributing to legitimize the quality accreditation procedures.

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Author Biography

Ana María García de Fanelli, Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES)

Directora del Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) e Investigadora del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) en el área de Educación Superior del CEDES, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Es Licenciada y Doctora en Economía de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) y Magíster en Ciencias Sociales de la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO). Sus líneas de investigación principales son políticas de educación superior comparadas y financiamiento universitario.  Como docente posee una extensa trayectoria en la Carrera de Sociología y la Carrera de Economía de la UBA Ha sido consultora del IIPE-UNESCO Buenos Aires, IIPE-UNESCO París, CONEAU Argentina y CINDA Chile. Ha publicado diversos libros y artículos en revistas especializadas nacionales y extranjeras.

 

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Published

2012-08-06

How to Cite

García de Fanelli, A. M. (2012). Quality accreditation and funding: Promoting university change through non-competitive improvement funds. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 20, 22. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v20n22.2012

Issue

Section

Articles