The new approach to university accreditation in Latvia will be a challenge both for higher education institutions and for the evaluation system as a whole, but there is currently no reason to believe that any university will struggle with the changes, said Baiba Ramiņa, head of the Academic Information Centre (AIC).
The current fragmented system of study field accreditation will be replaced by cyclical institutional accreditation of higher education institutions. This means that instead of assessing each study program separately, the evaluation will cover the entire university — including its governance, learning environment, staff development, and student support systems. This approach aligns with practices in the European Higher Education Area, where this model is already implemented in several countries.
Under the new system, evaluations will take place approximately once every six to seven years, involving foreign experts who will analyze the institution’s performance over a longer period. Accreditation results will be based on expert assessments prepared by independent commissions, including international specialists.
“Universities will have to demonstrate their capabilities through a single expert visit and report,” Ramiņa noted. If the decision is positive, the university can begin preparing for its next accreditation, which will take place after a longer interval.
She explained that
the goal of institutional accreditation is not only to exercise control but also to support universities in their development.
If a university has already demonstrated consistent quality in previous evaluations, it will gain greater autonomy — but also greater responsibility for maintaining that quality.
Ramiņa acknowledged that the reform will be a challenge since such a process will take place in Latvia for the first time. At present, there is no developed methodology or guidelines, nor a national-level agreement on timeframes and other implementation details.
To support the transition to cyclical institutional accreditation for universities and colleges, a European Social Fund Plus project will be implemented until the end of 2027. During this project, the Higher Education Quality Agency (AIKA) will prepare the necessary regulatory and informational framework and develop a report summarizing accreditation results by study fields and programs.
When asked whether the new approach might create difficulties for some institutions, Ramiņa replied: “As with any evaluation, results may vary — some may perform better, others worse.” However,
she declined to speculate on which universities might fail accreditation.
Ramiņa emphasized that Latvia’s higher education system overall is of good quality, and that negative examples are sometimes unfairly generalized in public discourse. Program quality is regularly assessed, and if serious deficiencies are found, programs are closed — though negative evaluations are rare.
Asked whether there are differences between public and private universities, Ramiņa said that quality issues vary by institution and cannot be generalized by type. Universities receive various recommendations — in some cases to improve teacher training, review study programs, or enhance student learning outcomes; in others, to focus more on infrastructure development.
The AIC director also noted that Latvia’s higher education reputation abroad remains stable — students from over 100 countries, including Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, and the United States, choose to study in Latvia.
“Would they come if the quality were poor? Hardly,” Ramiņa concluded.
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