India has over 4000 engineering colleges and not all have NBA Accreditation yet. While the essential factor for students looking for admission is that the college needs to be accredited by AICTE or All India Council for Technical Education, else the technical degrees aren’t recognized. But wait, it is simply as important for the Engineering college to have NBA accreditation (National Board of Accreditation) that is offered by an independent body under the AICTE.
Why an NBA is Important?
An engineering college that has NBA accreditation, incorporates the stamp of recognition for its education quality assurance at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Colleges are periodically evaluated for stringent NBA accreditation criteria with the cause that they may be on par with international quality practices. It is mandated that every engineering colleges have NBA accreditation by 2022.
Educational institutions eligible for NBA accreditation can provide publications from diploma to postgraduate level, in the fields of engineering and technology, pc applications, pharmacy, management, hotel management and catering technology and architecture.
It is certainly an honour to have the badge of accreditation stamped on your engineering programs. You are sending out a message that your programs have been assessed through specialists in the subject and discovered to have met the most appropriate first-rate standards. This is the most important benefit of NBA program outcomes to both engineering colleges and their students.
Importance of NBA in the International Arena
NBA had become the permanent signatory member of the Washington Accord on 13th June 2014. This Accord is a global agreement among 20 nations and is entered into by authorities, just like the NBA, responsible for accrediting engineering degree programs in their countries. This allows Indian graduates from accredited engineering programs to practice in or go for higher education in different Washington Accord countries. This applies to students who’ve graduated from NBA authorized programs presented by Tier – 1 institutions.
Who qualifies to be a Tier 1 Engineering Institution?
There are 2 categories for institutions to apply for NBA and the process of accreditation is unique for Tier-I and Tier-II institutions.
TIER-I: All IITs, NITs, private universities providing Engineering programs, all autonomous colleges.
TIER-II: All engineering colleges which aren’t autonomous and are affiliated to UGC recognized universities.
Now that we have a higher understanding of the NBA Accreditation system, right here are the verified NBA accreditation advantages that accepted colleges.
NBA Accreditation Benefits and Significance Attached
Validates quality standards
Accreditation for an engineering program indicates to students that the program outcomes of NBA authorised colleges has met strict quality standards. This removes the need for students having to conduct an in-depth evaluation of their own to evaluate an institution and its programs while selecting college admission.
This is borne out by the truth that NBA accredited engineering colleges generally have better student enrolments.
It is an indicator to aspiring students of the college’s level of commitment to excellence. Students additionally benefit from the procedure of continuity in the development of quality that is a part of the NBA’s method to promote excellence in technical education.
Fosters trust in the Institution
Accreditation makes it important that institutions move all-out to satisfy and keep their high standards. This in turn will increase trust and self-belief among the public and additionally allows to enhance accountability. This allows potential students and their families to place a sure level of trust withinside the institution for which the accreditation is received. After all, their future career goals rely upon the education they receive.
Improves Student Performance
Students getting their degree from a college that has its programs given the stamp of quality can be assured about the education they’ve received. An NBA accredited program makes use of Outcome-Based Education OBE to measure students on three criteria – knowledge, skills and attitude. Also, the facilities and curriculum make certain the student is employment-ready once they graduate.
Helps in SWOT Analysis and Better Outcomes
Accreditation enables engineering institutions to do a SWOT analysis i.e. examine their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities/threats. While a SWOT is a great place to begin for evaluation, it enables the college to recognize where it presently stands and how it should move forward. As a result, the college receives insight into how to enhance its programs continuously. You can enhance the quality of your programs such that they set you aside from other engineering colleges.
Provides a basis for fund-raising
Helps institutions in securing vital finances from the government. With funding increasingly connected to overall performance and outcomes, accreditation would assist engineering colleges to avail of overall performance-linked funding and incentives.
A college that has attained Category 1 reputation is a large success not only for the credibility of its NBA program outcomes however additionally for the various opportunities it opens up. Category 1 technical colleges are given the autonomy to consist of new programs, open learning centres, increase student admissions each at local and international levels. Category 1 approved colleges can more easily tie up with Global universities for twinning programs in addition to observing for research grants.
Edge in giving employment opportunities
The benefits of NBA accreditation to college students consist of more desirable probabilities of career success. One of the most important NBA accreditation advantages is that extra companies will find it advantageous to participate in your college’s placement packages.
Students armed with exceptional education passing out of accredited colleges are much more likely to locate suitable employment. Potential employers accord extra value to degrees from accredited programs secure in the knowledge that the candidate has been taught at an institution that has met and maintained robust quality measures aligned to industry.
Better mobility going forward
NBA’s membership in the Washington Accord offers us the opportunity to benchmark the quality of undergraduate engineering education provided by India with that of different member countries. It encourages and makes viable ease of mobility of engineering graduates and professionals on the global level.
STEM courses (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are the most famous amongst Indian college students going to do their Masters abroad. This makes NBA accreditation extra important.
By being a signatory to the Washington Accord, NBA permits college students graduating from accredited programs of engineering colleges to pursue superior studies in universities of different nations which can be also signatories to the Washington Accord. This helps better mobility of engineering graduates trying to pursue better studies abroad.
India’s better education needs the course correction of NBA accreditation. Engineering colleges have to actively take part in such course correction through adopting the accreditation manner to garner the benefits of NBA application results for their institutions and their students.
How will CleverGround benefit/help you with Accreditation?
Designed to assist higher education institutions to manage their institutional data and generating error-free accreditation reports, CleverGround’s NBA Accreditation System is an effective solution that can help you attain accreditation successfully.
As the NBA committee has mentioned that error-free reports are mandatory to get accreditation, the CleverGround’s NBA Accreditation System can take you one step closer. The NBA Accreditation System offers a complete detailed analysis of the data & auto-fetching data feature that helps you compile, store, extract and handle data from a centralized platform. The benefits go beyond accreditation data management. It also helps your institution create a positive impact on stakeholders by streamlining your daily work processes and accelerating quality education.
