Higher education institutions in Georgia are required by law to work in compliance with the internal and external quality assurance standards. Nowadays, Georgia’s system of external quality assurance comprises of institutional authorization and programme accreditation, while internal quality has functions on both institutional and programme levels to ensure the continuous evaluation and development of the quality of teaching, learning and research processes, professional development of staff and quality of the services and facilities provided by the institution.

Authorization of HEIs is an external mechanism of higher education quality assurance, which is carried out by the NCEQE. Authorization is an institutional evaluation, which determines compliance of an institution with the authorization standards. The evaluation process is carried out by expert panel and is based on the analysis of the information provided in the self-evaluation report (SER) of the institution and collected during the site-visit. Authorization is obligatory for all HEIs in order to be allowed to carry out educational activities and issue a diploma that is recognized by the state.

Accreditation of higher education programmes is an external mechanism of higher education quality assurance, which is carried out by the NCEQE. Accreditation is a programme evaluation, which determines compliance of a programme with the accreditation standards. The evaluation is carried out by the accreditation experts’ panel and is based on the analysis of the information indicated in the self-evaluation report of the programme and collected during the experts‘ site-visit. Accreditation is obligatory for regulated professions (Medicine, Law, Teacher Education, Maritime Education, Veterinary) and doctoral programmes. It is not obligatory to be accredited for the rest of the programmes. However, higher education programme have to be accredited in order to be eligible for national grants.