The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and critique of higher education
quality assurance in the context of the United States (US), reviewing the US model in terms
of its history, characteristics, problems and controversies, in an effort to extract lessons
that are applicable to other countries, including Brazil. The study examines topics such
as institutional rankings, student learning assessment, the role of government in the
university accreditation process and the challenge of assuring the quality of for-profit
institutions. The article concludes with a list of recommendations extracted from the US
experience that could conceivably contribute to the improvement of quality assurance
frameworks in other parts of the world.
