Study: Bureaucracy burdens private universities

Mannheim – Lengthy accreditation procedures are the greatest bureaucratic burden for private universities. This is the result of a survey conducted by the market research institute Management Consult among decision-makers at private universities, commissioned by the Association of Private Universities (VPH) and reported on in the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Monday editions). According to the survey, 71.4 percent of respondents perceive the burden of bureaucracy as high to very high. Accreditation and re-accreditation procedures, especially for the universities themselves, but also for individual degree programs, are perceived as disproportionately complex. Seven of the ten most frequently cited hurdles fall into this category. According to Ottmar Schneck, Chairman of the Board of the VPH, the reason for this is inadequate structures within the relevant committees. "The private higher education market is booming, but the structures of the accreditation institutions are not designed for this," Schneck told the Funke newspapers. "That's why decisions regarding accreditation by the Accreditation Council often take a very long time." This also has very concrete financial consequences for program accreditations. As long as a degree program is not accredited, private universities are not allowed to offer it. "If the Accreditation Council, which meets at longer intervals, postpones the decision until the next meeting, this could mean a postponement of the start by an entire semester." Furthermore, accreditations are often only granted for five years instead of ten. "One procedure takes about two years. So the universities are constantly dealing with very complex procedures," explains Schneck. He therefore urges streamlining the process and speeding up procedures. "We consider the quality assurance procedures to be good; it is in the interest of private universities that dubious providers are weeded out," said VPH head Schneck. "But the process must be simplified."