EQAR

What EQAR does

EQAR (European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education) is the official register of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and established in 2008 as a non-profit foundation. EQAR lists quality assurance and accreditation agencies that substantially comply with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Its core product is DEQAR (Database of External Quality Assurance Results), which aggregates more than 133,280 reports on 5,156 higher education institutions and serves as the central reference point for cross-border recognition of QA decisions across the 49 EHEA member countries.

EQAR serves three primary stakeholder groups: (1) quality assurance agencies seeking formal listing to gain EHEA-wide recognition; (2) higher education institutions, students, employers, and credential evaluators consuming QA outcomes via DEQAR; and (3) governmental members that fund the organization's operations. The organization operates with a small staff of 1–10 employees and is institutionally embedded with the four EHEA consultative partners—ENQA, EUA, ESU, and EURASHE. Technical infrastructure includes a public API, blockchain-based verification through the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), and data linkages with ENIC-NARIC centers for credential recognition.

EQAR's business model is membership- and grant-funded rather than commercial. Revenue derives from governmental membership fees, EU project grants (including DIGI-REQA, SIQA, and TPG-LRC Plus), and ancillary services around data access. There is no commercial product line or transaction-based pricing; EQAR functions as a public-good infrastructure provider within the European higher education regulatory ecosystem, with growth tied to the expansion of the EHEA and ESG adoption rather than market-share competition.

Name

EQAR

Legal name

European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education

Website

https://eqar.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EQAR is the official EHEA register listing quality assurance agencies that comply with ESG standards. It maintains DEQAR, a database of 133,000+ reports on 5,000+ institutions across 49 countries, funded by governmental membership fees and serving QA agencies, institutions, and credential evaluators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Quality Assurance

NAICS

Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

akta.pro primary industry

International/Transnational Accreditation & Recognition Bodies (EDADACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Accreditation Appeals, Arbitration & Compliance Oversight Bodies (EDADACAL), Assessment & Examination Integrity Audits (EDADAGAE)

Keywords

• Quality assurance register
• Higher education QA
• ESG compliance
• DEQAR database
• Agency accreditation

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

EQAR maintains the official European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, listing quality assurance agencies that demonstrate substantial compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG). It publishes the Database of External QA Results (DEQAR) containing 133,280 QA reports on 5,156 institutions and provides a Knowledge Base with country-specific QA framework information. The organization also operates a public API for programmatic access to QA results.

Product overview

EQAR operates as a registry and database platform for higher education quality assurance in Europe. The core offering consists of three interconnected products: The Register serves as the official list of quality assurance agencies demonstrating ESG compliance; the Database of External QA Results (DEQAR) provides searchable access to over 133,000 QA reports across more than 5,000 institutions; and the Knowledge Base offers country-specific QA framework information and policy resources. Together these products enable stakeholders to verify agency trustworthiness, access institutional QA outcomes, and understand quality assurance frameworks across the European Higher Education Area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DEQAR: Database of External QA Results - a database containing quality assurance reports on higher education institutions across the EHEA

Products and services

• The Register Official register of trustworthy quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), listing agencies that have demonstrated substantial compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG). Used by QA agencies, higher education institutions, and EHEA government members.
• Database of External QA Results (DEQAR) Comprehensive, searchable database containing 133,280 quality assurance reports covering 5,156 higher education institutions across the EHEA. Provides search by institution or report, data visualizations, downloadable datasets, and a public API for programmatic access. Used by QA agencies, higher education institutions, ENIC-NARIC networks, and researchers.
• Knowledge Base Comprehensive resource providing country-specific information on national QA frameworks across EHEA countries, the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG), cross-border QA resources, Bologna Process documentation, European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes, and information on accreditation mills. Used by QA agencies, higher education institutions, policymakers, and stakeholders.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerENQA is a key partner in coordinating external reviews of quality assurance agencies. Most applications are coordinated by ENQA. ENQA also participates in EHEA policy development alongside EQAR.
• EUA (European University Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEUA works with EQAR on EHEA policy development and quality assurance framework implementation across European universities.
• ESU (European Students' Union)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerESU represents student interests in quality assurance and collaborates with EQAR on EHEA developments and ESG revision processes.
• EURASHE (European Association of Institutions in Higher Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEURASHE collaborates with EQAR on quality assurance policy and represents higher education institutions in EHEA processes.
• EHEA (European Higher Education Area)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEQAR is the official register of the EHEA, established under the Bologna Process. The EHEA Key Commitment requires countries to use EQAR-registered agencies for external quality assurance.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation): CHEA is the US-based coordinating body for higher education accreditation and recognition, analogous to EQAR's role in Europe. It oversees accreditor quality and provides recognition, mirroring EQAR's function as a register and quality gatekeeper at a regional level.

Direct peers

• European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA): Listed also as partner, ENQA is the umbrella membership organization for QA agencies in EHEA. Its work in setting review standards and coordinating agency reviews makes it the most directly comparable peer to EQAR.
• European University Association (EUA): EUA is a core strategic partner of EQAR representing European universities in EHEA policy development. It operates adjacent QA-related activities (e.g., quality culture, learning and teaching) and shares the same stakeholder ecosystem, making it a directly comparable institutional peer in higher education QA governance.
• Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, UK): QAA is one of the largest EQAR-registered QA agencies, conducting external reviews of UK higher education providers. It is a directly comparable service provider in the same QA category and a customer of EQAR's registration system.
• EURASHE (European Association of Institutions in Higher Education): EURASHE is a strategic partner of EQAR representing higher education institutions (including universities of applied sciences and polytechnics) in EHEA processes. It collaborates on QA policy and shares the pan-European higher education QA mandate, functioning as a peer-level stakeholder body.
• European Students' Union (ESU): ESU is a strategic partner of EQAR representing student interests in QA and ESG revisions. While primarily an advocacy body, it operates in the same EHEA QA ecosystem and participates in QA policy at a peer level with EQAR.
• ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education): ENQA is EQAR's closest peer, coordinating the external reviews that underpin EQAR registration decisions. Both operate within the EHEA/Bologna framework as the two main pan-European QA bodies, with most EQAR applications coordinated by ENQA, making them tightly coupled institutional counterparts.

Regional players

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE): MSCHE is a US regional accreditor recognized by CHEA. It operates in a comparable institutional accreditation category to EQAR-registered agencies, though serving a different geography (US Northeast), making it a functionally analogous regional peer.

Emerging players

• European Quality Assurance Register for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET): EQAVET is the EU-level framework for quality assurance in vocational education and training, structurally analogous to EQAR but focused on VET rather than higher education. It serves as a thematic peer in European QA infrastructure development.
• ENIC-NARIC Networks: ENIC-NARIC is a European network of national centers that recognize academic qualifications. As an EQAR integration partner addressing cross-border credential recognition, it operates a closely adjacent function to EQAR's institutional QA register role.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/eqar_he
• Facebookfacebook.com/eqar.he
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eqar---european-quality-assurance-register

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about EQAR