ΗΑΗΕ

The Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE) was established in 2020 as the successor to Greece's Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency, which had operated since 2006. The Authority is an independent body with full administrative and operational autonomy and a legal supervision by the Minister of Education. It is governed by its President and Supreme Council. Quality assurance is managed by the Evaluation and Accreditation Council.

HAHE is a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

Vision-Mission-Values

Vision

HAHE seeks to play a pivotal role in the evolution and advancement of Higher Education and to promote and sustain high quality in universities and their academic units. It aims to function as a trusted intermediary between public universities and the Ministry of Education.

Mission

The mission of HAHE is threefold:

1. Contribution to the formation and monitoring of the national strategy for higher education
2. Allocation of state funding to Higher Education Institutions (HEls) based on annual assessment
3. Quality assurance including evaluation and accreditation of HEls and their study programs (SP).

HAHE aspires to support universities in their continuous effort to improve their educational and research activities and to increase their international visibility and status.

To fulfill its mission, HAHE maintains an integrated information system for the collection and management of higher education data (NISQA) and cooperates with international agencies and networks that are active in any domain related to its mission.

Values

Integrity: HAHE must act with professionalism and a high sense of responsibility in the performance of its duties, as well as with impartiality and objectivity in its decision-making.

Accountability: The Authority operates in full transparency, therefore, all its actions and decisions are publicly available.

Respect: HAHE recognizes the universities independence and diversity.

Collaboration: HAHE supports the exchange and sharing of know-how with its stakeholders, in order to support quality assurance.

Continuous improvement: HAHE is committed to constantly evaluate and enhance the quality of its operation at all levels and to comply with the European Standards and Guidelines.

Responsibilities

National Strategy for Higher Education

By decision of the Supreme Council, the HAHAE recommends to the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs: a) the national strategy program for higher education, b) the programmatic agreements of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs with each HEI, c) the establishment, merger, division, abolition, renaming of HEIs and their individual academic units, d) proposals for the continuous assurance of high quality in higher education,  e) proposals and measures to strengthen the internationalization of HEIs.

Funding of HEIs

The HAEAE, by decision of the Supreme Council, recommends to the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs a) the allocation of the annual total grant budget to HEIs, twenty percent (20%) of which is allocated on the basis of the quality and achievement indicators of each institution, b) the allocation of staff positions in HEIs, c) the current criteria and the manner of distribution of the state subsidy to HEIs,  ensuring the transparency of the criteria and indicators for the subsidy of HEIs, in particular through the posting of the relevant data on its website

In order to exercise its responsibilities, the HAEAE a) collects and analyzes the statistical data necessary for the exercise of its responsibilities from the individual institutions, b) systematically monitors the transition of HEI graduates to the labor market, c) assigns the preparation of surveys and studies related to the Authority's subject;

The Authority may recommend to the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs the total or partial suspension of the funding of an institution if the institution, through its own fault, fails to provide the required information material and documentation.

Quality Assurance

The assurance and improvement of the quality of HEIs and their offered study programs and qualifications is emerged as a fundamental goal of Greek Higher Education, in order to best satisfy the needs of society and the expectations that it places on Higher Education Institutions. These objectives were further strengthened by the institutionalization of certification both at the level of the Institution and Academic Units as well as at the level of study programs.

Promotion of Centers of Excellence

In order to reward and support best practices of quality and innovation in Higher Education Institutions, the promotion of Centers of Excellence in Higher Education is institutionalized.

Higher Education Institutions, Faculties, Departments or interdisciplinary structures of HEIs, as well as partnerships of HEIs with research centers in Greece or abroad, are designated as Centers of Excellence by the HAEAE, following an invitation to submit applications and evaluation of special committees set up by the HAEAE, whose members are determined by lot from the Register of External Experts kept by the HAEAE Criteria for the nomination of Centers of Excellence are:  In particular, the excellent quality and effectiveness of the teaching and research work, the effective structure and organization of the relevant curricula, the link between teaching and research and the high quality of support services. By decision of the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, which is issued following a proposal by the Supreme Council of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, the evaluation criteria are specified on a case-by-case basis, the weighting of each criterion for the evaluation of the candidates is determined and the specific procedure and details for the promotion of the Centers of Excellence, their additional support and any relevant issue are defined.

Licensing of Annexes of Public Sector Entities

Law 5094/2024 provides for the establishment and operation in Greece of branches of foreign state or private universities in the form of Legal Entities of University Education (NPE). These institutions will award higher education qualifications, will be affiliated with Universities based and recognized in other Member States of the European Union or in third countries, and will be licensed after the implementation of a specific control and evaluation procedure by the competent bodies of the country, including the EAEA.

In this context, for the issuance of the relevant permit for the installation and operation of NPPEs, foreign parent institutions submit an application with the relevant supporting documents file to the Ministry of Education. The part of the file that primarily concerns the academic operation of the NPE is transmitted to the HAEAE for the statutory verification and evaluation procedure of the data.

Quality Policy

The Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE) has the mission of ensuring high quality in higher education.

To carry out its mission and achieve its goals, HAHE implements a specific Quality Policy, summarized as follows:

ΗΑΗΕ is committed in creating and maintaining an internal quality assurance system and the availability of the necessary resources as well as the implementation of the necessary measures to achieve the promotion of its mission and vision for the high quality of Higher Education, as specified in its strategic plan.

The purpose of the internal quality assurance system of HAHE is the design, organization, implementation, monitoring, and improvement of standards, procedures, criteria, and indicators suitable for the accreditation of the quality of Internal Quality Assurance Systems and the Study Programs of the country’s universities.

The standards, procedures, and criteria issued by HAHE are in line with national legislation and the European Standards and Guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015).

HAHE monitors and improves the quality of its operations through commonly defined processes, procedures, and systems included in the relevant quality manual. The quality manual includes the following 10 processes: quality policy, resource management, quality targeting, template development and revision, external quality assurance organization, measurement, analysis and improvement, communication with institutions, disclosure of information, progress monitoring activities and continuous improvement, organization of external quality assurance, and the certification of HAHE.

HAHE collects and analyzes data and information from the implementation of quality assurance activities in universities, based on which it may proceed to systemic decisions that improve standards, criteria, and procedures.

The goals set in its strategic plan, as well as within its action plan, are a point of reference for all the Authority’s operations. In addition, the Authority sets measurable and objective goals for quality. These objectives are established and evaluated in terms of their degree of achievement in the context of the review of the internal quality assurance system.

As part of its systemic review, the Authority is constantly reviewing and improving the features of its services, as much as possible, as well as the effectiveness of the relevant processes.

The members of the Supreme Council, the Evaluation and Certification Council, as well as the Scientific and Administrative Service contribute to the achievement of the Authority’s objectives and are responsible for the performance and results of their work.

HAHE guarantees the transparency of all its activities by establishing accounting mechanisms, the adoption of the Code of Conduct, and the development of a culture of quality.

HAHE is subject to periodic external evaluation every five years, in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015). This evaluation decides its subsequent retainment of ENQA membership status and its inclusion in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

The above quality policy is communicated and considered known to all interested parties and is practiced by all the Authority’s staff.

History of HAHE

The Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency (HQA) was established by Law 3374/2005 in 2005 as the guardian of quality assurance in higher education. The Agency officially began its operations in 2006 following the nomination of its members and its constitution as a body. In its original composition, the Plenary involved the President and twelve members.

During the first year of its operation, the HQA pushed forward and worked out the framework of quality assurance processes. The above framework was communicated to all institutions of higher education and their academic units with which the Agency created a culture of open communication aiming to guide them towards embracing the system of quality assurance. These actions made a major contribution to creating a quality culture in institutions of higher education, which led to the involvement of the first academic units in self-evaluation processes. So, the implementation of the project was initiated in 2008 with the external evaluation of the first five academic departments.

From 2008 to 2014, the Agency completed the internal and external evaluation of 397 academic units of Greek institutions of higher education, and coordinated the visits of over 1,580 foreign experts who work as faculty members in foreign institutions. In between, in 2011, significant institutional reform was introduced to the HQA with the enactment of Law 4009 by making changes to its governance and the structure of its services, as well as by modifying and expanding its responsibilities. In particular, following the introduction of the academic accreditation process, the HQA took on new duties, since it was assigned responsibility for organising and carrying out academic accreditation for study programmes and the institutions’ internal quality assurance system. To this end, the Agency was renamed Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency. In 2013, the HQA has issued two opinions on the ATHENA Plan.

In 2014, the HQA began the implementation of the new academic accreditation process, while in 2015, it completed the external evaluation of 36 higher education institutions. During the same year, the Agency prepared an opinion text on the formulation of a national strategy for higher education, as provided for in Law 4009/2011.

Furthermore, the HQA, a) has completed the compilation of the HQA’s Register of Experts, which today includes 4,000 Greek and foreign academics (professors, researchers, etc.) appointed to quality assurance committees (evaluation, accreditation etc. and b) has supported the procedures for the election and promotion of teaching and research staff members in institutions of higher education, in response to the demands of academic units for the selection of electors according to the regulations in Article 19 of Law 4009/2011, according to which the foreign members from among the electors are selected from the HQA’s Register of Independent Experts.

During the period 2016-17, the HQA proceeded in its internal reorganization, the development of directorates into organizational units and staff renewal. In 2017, the Agency put into operation the National Information System for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data of higher education institutions and developed key performance indicators for higher education.

In 2018, the HQA began the process of academic accreditation of the Internal Quality Assurance Systems and study programmes of higher education institutions.