Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, January 29, 2009
Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic, chief of the section for reform, innovation, and quality assurance in higher education, spoke recently at the annual meeting of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Among the UNESCO efforts that he described
is an Internet listing of higher-education institutions “recognized or otherwise sanctioned by competent authorities in participating countries” — a so-called white list that students, employers, and others can use to check the credentials of a university.
So far, 23 countries are participating in the effort, including China, the United States, Britain, Australia, and Japan, as well as developing countries like Kenya and Nigeria.
The accrediting group, known as CHEA, is an association of 3,000 accredited institutions. It is also working with Unesco to develop a set of suggestions for countries to deal with fraudulent universities.