Evaluation and accreditation of engineering programmes in Latin America

This paper is an overview of the university quality system in six countries in Latin America, i.e. Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, that the author was studying during a 1-year trip. The paper focuses on the university quality system development level and a description of what is done on Accreditation of Engineering Programmes. The history of the different existing initiatives, the origin of them (i.e.private or governmental) and the success or the main difficulties encountered in their implementation are described. The paper aims to underline how the higher educational systems of these countries are adapting their activities to new challenges, such as professional mobility, globalization or the needed university accountability.