Development of benchmarks for quality in higher education

Benchmark is set out expectations about standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. They describe what gives a discipline its coherence and identity, and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of the abilities and skills needed to develop higher education. Benchmarks are not grounded in any single theoretical perspective or in any single cultural context. While these Benchmarks may not encompass every hope and expectation of all families, communities, or cultures, they are a comprehensive foundation for addressing the learning and development of student.Primarily, they are an important external source of reference for higher education institutions when new programmes are being designed and developed in a subject area. They provide general guidance for articulating the learning outcomes associated with the programme but are not a specification of a detailed curriculum in the subject. Benchmarks provide for variety and flexibility in the design of programmes and encourage innovation within an agreed overall framework. Every student has a right to expect high-quality teaching by well-educated and prepared faculty in every course. A quality college or university must have a corps of full-time, permanent, tenured faculty working on the academic curriculum and teaching most of it.Students must be held to high standards of achievement. Today, too many students are coming to college unprepared to handle college-level work. Colleges and universities have established hundreds of programs to bring students up to par, but the real solution is to raise public school students’ achievement levels. In addition, a college's own program of study must be coherent and challenging, with high grading standards. A certificate or degree from an occupational or academic program should always be a mark of achievement and readiness to assume new responsibility.