Quality assurance of engineering education through accreditation of programs in Taiwan

The number of universities in Taiwan has increased enormously over the last ten years; this has raised concerns over the quality of the engineering programs. In 2003 the Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) was established, to ensure quality control of the programs via outcomes-based accreditation. This paper describes key elements of IEET, a provisional signatory to the Washington Accord, and the lessons learned in the application of the scheme. Currently. nearly a quarter of all four-year engineering programs have participated in accreditation. Work in progress includes the fine-tuning of the accreditation process and accreditation of master's degree programs beginning in 2007. The work of IEET should help other economies that are in the process of establishing their own accreditation systems.