LICENSING AND ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: POTENTIAL AND EFFICIENCY OF ACTIVITIES

The article summarizes the achievements of Ukrainian scientists and practitioners who have studied the processes of licensing and accreditation of a higher education institution as processes that characterize the potential and effectiveness of the institution’s activities; it is shown that the accreditation procedure is the main procedure in the field of higher education, which, together with the procedure for licensing the educational activity of a higher education institution, forms the basis of the mechanism of regulation of the activity of the institution and quality assurance system of higher education in Ukraine. It is emphasized that the purpose of accreditation is to evaluate the educational program in terms of its compliance with the educational standard, as well as the ability of the educational institution to ensure the achievement of the educational results stipulated in the educational program of the educational program. The stages of development of the licensing and accreditation process during the independence of Ukraine (N. Saphonova) are analyzed; it is concluded that the practice of licensing and accreditation of higher education institutions has developed in Ukraine. Foreign experience of accreditation of higher education institutions is analyzed and a comparison of this procedure in the USA and Ukraine is made. The contents of the methodological recommendations for accreditation of higher education programs in Ukraine, developed by the members of the QUAERE project consortium as a result of the study of accreditation practice in the European Union countries, are revealed. The conclusion was made about the importance of effective management of the processes of licensing and accreditation of a higher education institution, and the importance of state control in the sphere of licensing and accreditation activities was emphasized. The necessity to change the orientation of accreditation procedures from control to monitoring and consulting was proved.