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Institutional Accreditation
In September 2025, Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) obtained unconditional institutional reaccreditation for eight years from the European agency ACQUIN (Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute), a prestigious German agency listed among internationally recognized European agencies.
This recognition is of major importance for higher education institutions. Awarded in the year of USJ’s 150th anniversary, it carries special meaning. It shows that the University remains true to its history while staying committed to the future, as reflected in its motto. Institutional accreditation looks at how well an institution respects its mission, vision, values, and strategic objectives, as well as its capacity to develop. It also examines its compliance with international higher education standards.
This reaccreditation, granted without conditions and for eight years, is institutional, meaning that it covers all areas of the University, including governance, teaching, research, student life, service to society, international openness, the management of human and material resources, and institutional mechanisms for continuous improvement.
Its benefits are numerous for all stakeholders, both internal and external to the University: students, instructors, administrative staff, alumni, and partners. This recognition strengthens the University’s national, regional, and international positioning. It supports graduate employability, facilitates academic and professional international mobility, encourages research funding, and fosters collaboration with universities, organizations, and international companies. At the same time, the pride of belonging to an accredited institution reinforces the sense of belonging to the University, which is a strong source of motivation.
The University was evaluated based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The experts noted that all institutional accreditation standards were met, that all recommendations from the previous accreditation had been addressed, and that USJ had gone well beyond them.
Below are some excerpts from the evaluation report:
“The experts wish to highlight that, given the current context and the crises experienced since the first institutional accreditation in 2019, USJ’s ability to overcome difficulties, to continue investing despite them, and to move forward as it has done is striking. USJ has not interrupted its commitment and has gone beyond the recommendations of the first accreditation in its quality approach. The experts also wish to emphasize that the documents made available were of exceptional quality.”
“Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) has mobilized a large part of its energy to fulfill its missions across all its areas of activity, going beyond the recommendations made during the previous evaluation. It continues its process of continuous improvement by introducing new measures designed to support the responsibilities of a higher education institution, as well as those it has set for itself, while remaining attentive to societal needs and to the evolution of competencies and missions in higher education.”
“The expert committee underlines the very positive impression it had of the progress made, the quality approach, and the process carried out since the last institutional accreditation visit. USJ has demonstrated a real capacity for development, supported by clear strategies across different areas.”
The recommendations issued in 2019 following the first accreditation were shared with the USJ community. They were grouped by keywords. Measures were proposed by the Central Administration and the University Board. The most appropriate measures were selected, integrated into the USJ Strategic Plan, and implemented. The eleven keywords identified from the 2019 recommendations are: Participation, Institutionalization, Structuring, Interdisciplinarity, Internationalization, Employability, Assessment, Productivity, Valorization, Communication, and Support. The progress achieved by USJ in relation to these recommendations shows that the slogan that guided this process, “Evaluate to Evolve,” has been upheld, and that accreditation serves as a lever to achieve its ultimate purpose: the development of the University.
Summary of progress on the 2019 recommendations, organized by the keywords identified above: