A roadmap towards international quality standards for higher education sector in KSA

Globalization of education, job market and changing needs of the industry for graduates? qualities, attributes and skills sets has enhanced the importance of quality and innovation in teaching, learning and administration of higher education institutes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). KSA?s National Transformation Program realize the importance of quality in higher education for the transition of Saudi economy from an over-reliance on oil revenues to a more balanced and investment based model. Ensuring graduates? quality to meet the requirements of national and international job market and increasing private sector participation in education are two of the education strategic objectives of the National Transformation Program.It is mandatory for the higher education institutes in KSA to obtain institutional level accreditation from the Education Evaluation Commission for Higher Education (EEC-HE) of KSA. This paper makes an attempt in understanding the national and international quality standards in a Higher education sector; investigate the commonalities of both standards and explore the opportunities for KSA?s institutes to obtain international accreditation at program level by using national accreditation as a foundation. The study is based on extensive literature review and qualitative case analysis. The study found that the evidence of documented procedure and practices in compliance with national accreditation?s standards and criteria are very comprehensive. Implemented standards of the national accreditation (EEC-HE) provide strong foundation and evidence to meet the requirements of international accreditation such as ACBSP. International accreditation can help institute to implement world class practices in teaching, learning and administration, enhance faculty and staff morale, increase graduates? employability and acceptance in global education and job market.