National Assessment and Accreditation Council

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission that assesses the quality of higher education institutions. Established in 1994, it provides external quality assurance through institutional assessment, accreditation and the promotion of continuous quality improvement.

Institutional background

NAAC was created following the emphasis placed on educational quality by the National Policy on Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action, 1992. It functions from Bengaluru as an autonomous body associated with the UGC.

Core mandate

NAAC's central mandate is to evaluate higher education institutions against defined quality parameters and communicate their quality status through accreditation.

• It conducts periodic assessment and accreditation of universities, colleges and other eligible higher education institutions.
• It encourages institutional self-evaluation, accountability, autonomy and innovation as means of improving academic quality.
• It promotes a quality culture in teaching, learning, research, governance, student support and institutional management.
• It undertakes quality-related research, training, consultancy and collaboration with stakeholders in higher education.

How the mandate supports quality assurance

Assessment broadly combines an institution's self-study with independent evaluation under NAAC's prescribed framework. Accreditation provides an external indication of institutional quality and helps institutions identify strengths and deficiencies.

• The process is intended to support continuous improvement, rather than merely award a status or grade.
• NAAC performs quality assessment; it does not replace the regulatory, funding or degree-recognition functions of the UGC and other statutory bodies.

How UPSC asks this