The Education Inspectorate has concluded that the University of Twente violated Article 15.7 of the Dutch Higher Education Act (WHW) by wrongfully awarding 59 master's degrees for the Master Public Management (MPM) programme between 1 March 2018 and 26 May 2023. This week, the inspectorate published its findings on this executive part-time programme.
The ruling is based on the fact that the programme is only accredited by the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). According to the inspectorate, this is insufficient, as it sees EAPAA as an organisation based in the Netherlands, and in the Netherlands, only NVAO is entitled to grant accreditation that entitles programmes to award the master's degree.
As a university, we do not subscribe to the inspection's conclusion. We have always argued that EAPAA should be seen as a foreign accreditation organisation, given the composition of the board and its (accreditation) committee(s), the accreditation process, and decisions. Establishing the secretariat in the Netherlands should play no role in this.
We have always been convinced that the EAPAA accreditation as issued for the MPM programme in accordance with the applicable guidelines entitled us to award the master's degree. At the time, we made a well-considered decision to have the accreditation process carried out by EAPAA, on the one hand from the desire for an assessment framework specific to the discipline and, on the other hand, to meet the growing need for an international frame of reference. Additional accreditation through NVAO did not seem necessary at the time, as degree awarding based on foreign accreditation is also possible.
We made this position known to the inspectorate on several occasions. However, the inspectorate still maintains its stance. You can find the full inspection report online. The report also includes our views on the inspectorate's position.
Solution for students
We regret that the inspection has come to this judgement, especially for the participants in our programme. After all, the quality of the programme is not in question. The Education Inspectorate's ruling means that graduates of the MPM programme who obtained their degree after 1 March 2018 will no longer be allowed to carry the master's title. Current participants in the programme will also not receive a master's degree after successfully completing it.
The University of Twente wants to enable students and alumni to still obtain a master's degree. This can be done by offering them to enter a newly accredited programme. By following a limited additional education programme, they can then still obtain a master's degree. An application for this accreditation has already been submitted to NVAO. In the coming months, it should become clear whether the accreditation process is successful.
