Journal of US-China Public Administration, ISSN 1548-6591 March 2012, Vol. 9, No. 3, 303-315 The Process of Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Courses in Portugal: Analysis of the Impacts Arising From the Preliminary Accreditation ∗ Maria da Conceição da Costa Marques Institute of Accounting and Administration of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Margarida Mano University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Quality assurance in higher education emerged in a significant way around the 1990s, following developments in assessment systems in Europe, in a context of internationalization of evaluation. The European Union Council recommendation and the creation of ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) were decisive factors for the increase in quality assurance. This process led to the creation of the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3es), which is responsible for evaluation and accreditation of higher education courses of study in Portugal. From 2009-2010, all higher education institutions (HEIs) were required to request the preliminary accreditation of all courses of studies that they intended to offer in Portugal. Schools are evaluated on their curriculums, faculty qualifications, international cooperation agreements, facilities, educational materials and scientific equipment, among other items. In addition to a system of self-evaluation, higher education institutions must undergo a mandatory external evaluation, which should be performed by an independent entity. The overall objective of this paper is to present the concept of quality assurance in higher education. To better present this theme, we intend to conduct a general literary review on all subjects pertinent to the quality of HEIs. For existing data we recurred to A3es and their database, which provided us with numbers on applications for accreditation made by HEIs, and the current status of such applications. We will present our preliminary results, which we hope will contribute to improving the quality of the discussion on the topic of the quality of higher education in Portugal. Keywords: accreditation, higher education, evaluation, course The technological, social, economic and political factors, along with the organizational changes observed, can cause significant changes in the business environment of higher education institutions (HEIs). Consequently, information needs have changed, so it is necessary to introduce mechanisms to protect and assist HEIs to defend themselves from these potential threats. ∗ This paper is funded by national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology under the project “PEst-OE/AGR/ UI0681/2011”. Corresponding author: Maria da Conceição da Costa Marques, Ph.D., professor coordinator, Institute of Accounting and Administration of Coimbra; research fields: financial accounting, government model and performance indicators, management, intangible, corporate governance. E-mail: conceicao.m@netcabo.pt. Margarida Mano, Ph.D., associate professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra; research fields: models and indicators of government performance, strategic management and evaluation. E-mail: mimano@fe.uc.pt. D DAVID PUBLISHING