Under the accreditation system, accrediting agencies evaluate and accredit universities according to specific criteria for each region or specialized field. This system has helped to promote social awareness of universities and to maintain and improve the quality of education and research. Studies are currently being carried out regarding improvement of this system to reflect various changes, including the diversification of institutions of higher education in terms of content and quality as a result of the popularization of higher education and the increased emphasis on accountability in recent years.
In 1994 the agencies involved reached agreement on three key areas of reform:
(1) emphasis on the evaluation of educational results in addition to the traditional approach centered on educational conditions,
(2) establishment of national evaluation criteria, and
(3) creation of a national agency to coordinate accreditation.
