Our quality assurance policy

Awarding origin

At UIBS, qualifications are awarded through two distinct routes. Understanding which route applies to a given program is important because it determines who awards the qualification and under what regulatory framework.

Institution-awarded

Associate, Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees, as well as certificate and diploma qualifications, are awarded by United Institute’s main awarding branch in Switzerland or, where applicable, by another relevant regional awarding branch, and always based on the recommendation of the Academic Council and faculty at the local campuses where credits were earned.

Partner-awarded

Some programs lead to qualifications awarded by an academic partner. In many cases, students also receive a qualification awarded by UIBS. Partner-awarded qualifications may either form part of a UIBS program or be obtained as a result of completing one. Current partners include Coventry University (UK).

Qualification status

Every qualification awarded through UIBS programs falls into one of two categories. This distinction has practical consequences for graduates and should be understood before applying.

State-recognized qualifications

A state-recognized qualification is formally regulated under a national higher education or qualifications framework. Recognition is granted by a national education authority or a quality assurance agency operating under national mandate. These qualifications typically provide access to government employment, regulated professions and further education at public universities.

The following routes lead to state-recognized qualifications at UIBS:

Important: State-recognized degrees awarded through one country’s framework may not automatically be recognized by education authorities in the destination country of the student. They may also not automatically provide access to government employment, regulated professions, or further education at other or public universities in that country.

Private qualifications

A private qualification is awarded by an institution under its own authority, without regulation under a national higher education act. The majority of qualifications awarded by United Institute’s headquarters in Switzerland, including all programs not listed as state-recognized above, fall into this category.
Our study programs are American-inspired and professionally oriented. Several have achieved programmatic accreditation from recognized organizations, which provides independent assurance of program quality, but programmatic accreditation does not by itself confer state recognition on the resulting qualification.

Regulatory context, Bologna alignment, and practical implications

The institution itself does not hold US-regional or US-national accreditation. The private qualifications awarded by the institution’s headquarters in Switzerland are not regulated under the Swiss Higher Education Act of September 2011.

Private qualifications may not provide access to government employment, regulated professions, or further studies at other or public institutions. They may not be considered to hold the same value as a qualification awarded by a locally registered, accredited or otherwise recognized institution that follows the local educational model — but they do not necessarily hold a lower value either. The practical value of any qualification depends significantly on its match with the expectations of the student and the real-world applicability of the skills and knowledge acquired.

Our professionally-oriented study programs are based on the European higher education guidelines as outlined in the Bologna agreements. We aim for full compatibility with both the European and American educational models, but do not necessarily follow the local educational model of any single country. Compatibility is evaluated through institutional and programmatic accreditation, as well as through cooperation agreements with our European and American academic partners.

An overview of regulated professions in Europe is available in the European Commission’s Regulated Profession Database.

External quality assurance

External quality assurance consists of formal, independent evaluations conducted by recognized organizations. At UIBS, it takes three complementary forms, each with a different scope and purpose.

Institutional accreditation

Evaluates the institution as a whole: governance, quality assurance systems, teaching standards and organizational effectiveness, rather than individual programs.

UIBS is institutionally accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC), a quality assurance agency listed on the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). BAC’s accreditation standards are based on the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) and strongly emphasize outcome-based performance, institutional governance and quality assurance systems.

UIBS is institutionally accredited by the Association for Transnational Higher Education Accreditation (ATHEA), a registered affiliate of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). ATHEA’s accreditation standards are based on the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) and strongly emphasize outcome-based performance, institutional governance and quality assurance systems.

Programmatic accreditation

Evaluates individual study programs against defined disciplinary and pedagogical quality standards, independent of any assessment of the institution as a whole.

The following programs at the Barcelona, Madrid and Online campuses are accredited through the Cualificam procedure of the Fundación para el Conocimiento Madri+d, a quality assurance agency listed on the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR):

These programs lead to state-recognized qualifications.

The following programs at the main campus in Zurich and at the branch campuses in Geneva and Online are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in the United States. Campuses in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Milan and Tokyo, are considered educational sites under the accredited main and branch campuses.

These programs lead to private qualifications, or to state-recognized qualifications (Professional MBA and MBS variants only). Programmatic accreditation by ACBSP provides independent external quality assurance, but does not by itself confer state recognition, despite its recognition by CHEA in the USA.

The following programs at the Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Milan, Tokyo and Zurich campuses are accredited by the European Council for Business Education (ECBE), a registered affiliate of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA):

These programs lead to private qualifications.

University validation

A quality assurance arrangement in which a recognized, degree-awarding university authorizes another institution to deliver programs to its academic standards. The validating university oversees curriculum, assessment and quality, and awards its own degree upon successful completion.

The following programs at the Antwerp, Barcelona, Brussels, Zurich and Online campuses are validated by Coventry University, a university accredited by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the United Kingdom.

These programs lead to state-recognized qualifications.

Institutional certifications & registrations

Several UIBS campuses hold certifications and registrations from respected local quality assurance and education bodies. These are separate from accreditation, they do not affect the regulatory status of qualifications, but they recognize the quality of local education services and, in some cases, enable access to local subsidy programs.

🇳🇱 Netherlands

CRKBO

Amsterdam campus certified (2017) for inclusion in the Centraal Register Kort Beroepsonderwijs, the national registry of institutions offering professional education.

🇨🇭 Switzerland

EduQua

Geneva and Zurich campuses certified since 2013 by EduQua, the Swiss quality label for further education.

🇧🇪 Belgium

KMO-portefeuille

Antwerp and Brussels campuses registered since 2015 with the Flemish Ministry of Economic Affairs as an education provider in the KMO-portefeuille subsidy program. (Reg. DV.O104194)

🇳🇱 Netherlands

NRTO

Amsterdam campus awarded the quality label (2017) from the Nederlandse Raad voor Training en Opleiding, the trade association for private educators, recognizing quality and professional service.

🇧🇪 Belgium

Qfor

Antwerp and Brussels campuses certified since 2015 by Qfor, a European quality label for training institutions.

Institutional ratings & programmatic rankings

Ratings and rankings are independent, comparative assessments. They are separate from accreditation and do not affect the regulatory status of qualifications, but they offer prospective students an additional perspective on performance and reputation.

★★★★☆

QS Stars: 4-Star Institution

Rated by QS based on performance across all evaluated categories.

QS Business Masters & MBA rankings

2025 · QS Business Master’s in Finance

Master in Financial Management

#201+

2025 · QS Business Master’s in Management

Master in International Management (MIM)

#201+

2025 · QS Business Master’s in Marketing

Master in Marketing Management

#151+

2025 · QS Business Master’s in Supply Chain Management

Master in Supply Chain Management

#101+

2022 · QS MBA

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Global Top 300 · European Top 100

CEO Magazine rankings

2025 · CEO Magazine Global MBA

MBA

Tier One

2025 · CEO Magazine Global EMBA

Executive MBA (EMBA)

31st Globally

2025 · CEO Magazine Global Online MBA

Online MBA (OMBA)

17th Globally

2025 · CEO Magazine Global DBA

Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)

Premier

2019 · CEO Magazine European MBA

MBA

Tier One

Qualification levels

The following table maps UIBS qualification levels to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the Spanish Qualifications Framework (MECU) and the UK Qualifications Framework.

Level Qualification European Qualifications Framework (EQF) Spanish Qualifications Framework (MECU) UK Qualifications Framework
Undergraduate Undergraduate Certificate Level 5 Level 5a Level 4
Undergraduate Associate / Undergraduate Diploma Level 5 Level 5a Level 5
Undergraduate Bachelor Level 6 Level 6 Level 6
Graduate Master / Professional Master / Graduate Diploma / Graduate Certificate Level 7 Level 7 Level 7
Postgraduate Doctorate / Postgraduate Diploma / Postgraduate Certificate Level 8 Level 8 Level 8

Further education

Understanding how UIBS qualifications are recognized for further education, and what factors may affect that recognition, is essential for long-term academic planning.

  • Admission requirements for study programs are set by each institution independently. Although many UIBS students and graduates have successfully continued their education at other institutions around the world, prospective students should be aware of the following:

    • Public institutions may not consider applicants holding qualifications from private institutions such as UIBS.
    • Institutions offering academically oriented study programs may not consider applicants who graduated from professionally oriented study programs.

    It is therefore important to choose an institution and study program for further education based on its compatibility with your current or former institution and program.

    Our first recommendation is to consider study programs organized by our academic partners.
    Our second recommendation is to consider the accredited member institutions of the accreditation organizations whose quality standards we follow, to maximize compatibility.

    Students who earned an American regionally-accredited degree or a European state-recognized degree from one of our academic partners may have additional further education opportunities available to them.

Coventry University (United Kingdom)
Undergraduate students at campuses in Antwerp, Barcelona, Brussels, Zurich and Online can register for the university-validated BA (Hons) in Global Business top-up degree, leading to a UK state-recognized qualification. Graduate students can register for the state-recognized Professional Master programs accredited through the Cualificam procedure.

Dublin Business School (Ireland)
Undergraduate students from across the UIBS campus network can transfer to Dublin Business School (DBS) to earn a European state-recognized Bachelor or Master degree externally.

The European Area of Recognition Manual, developed by experts from various ENIC and NARIC offices under the European Area of Recognition project, provides practical guidelines for the fair recognition of qualifications.

The manual recognizes that institutions that are not specifically following a national higher education system may still be offering legitimate study programs and qualifications.

The evaluation flowchart in the manual prescribes that the responsible admissions officer should conduct research into the legitimacy of the institution and the qualification through, among others, information obtained from the applicant and from third-party quality assurance organizations. Upon confirming the legitimacy of both, recognition of the qualification should be considered for admission.

The local service entities operating their respective local campuses provide local education services under supervision from the institution’s headquarters in Switzerland. Our local campuses operate under an internal validation model: they do not award their own qualifications, but facilitate the teaching and learning of hybrid study programs that may be completed locally only partially.

Our education services are considered non-regulated under a constitutional freedom to organize education. We have achieved institutional accreditation from an EQAR-listed agency, and several of our campuses have achieved institutional certification from reputable local agencies, but our local campuses are not registered with or recognized by the relevant local Ministry of Education, and are not accredited by the relevant local accreditation authorities.