MAB

The Hungarian Accreditation Committee is a national-level, independent body of experts tasked with the external evaluation of the quality of educational and related research activities and the internal quality assurance (QA) systems of higher education institutions in Hungary. It operates within the scope of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The Board is comprised of 20 higher education experts, students and external stakeholders and is the highest decision-making board. It determines the by-laws, rules of procedure, organisational framework and evaluation and accreditation criteria and procedures, and passes resolutions on accreditation decisions. Expert committees and a Secretariat contribute to its operations.

In addition, the MAB has two statutory boards, a Financial Supervisory Board and a Board of Appeals. The latter board of three independent members handles appeals against the MAB’s decisions and, in line with internal regulations, may deal with complaints against procedures. An International Advisory Board provides guidance and recommendations for the MAB’s work.

The MAB scope of activities extends to

initial (ex ante) accreditation of new institutions
initial evaluation of education and learning outcome framework requirements of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes
initial evaluation of education and learning outcome framework requirements of Bachelor programmes;
initial evaluation of education and learning outcome framework requirements of Master programmes;
initial accreditation of VET programmes;
initial accreditation of Bachelor programmes;
initial accreditation of Master programmes;
initial accreditation of new doctoral schools at universities;
accreditation (ex post) of institutions in five-year cycles;
accreditation of doctoral schools in maximum five-year cycles;
WFME standards-based accreditation of basic medical programmes.

The MAB may evaluate running Bachelor and Master programmes if requested by an institution or the ministry. Additionally, it evaluates applications for awarding university professor positions.

The National Higher Education Act of 2011, lists some 70 higher education institutions operating in Hungary. In order to receive state recognition and to issue degrees, all higher education institutions, including private ones, must be accredited. Denominational higher education institutions receive state financing similar to state institutions and are accredited but the MAB’s mandate pertains only to secular programmes. Foreign higher education institutions are also required to be evaluated in order to receive license to operate from the Educational Authority of the Ministry of National Resources. A precondition is that they are legally recognized as HEI in their home country.

ACTIVITIES

MAB’s Mission Statement

The Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB) is an independent national expert body established to conduct external evaluations of the quality of education, scientific research, and artistic activities in higher education institutions, as well as the operation of their internal quality assurance systems.

The main task of MAB is to carry out evaluation activities that promote high-quality and modern education, learning, research, and development in Hungary’s higher education institutions. MAB ensures comprehensive and inclusive quality assurance, engaging all relevant stakeholders across different levels of education. Its quality assessment and accreditation tasks are performed in compliance with national higher education regulations. These tasks are carried out following the criteria set by the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), applying objective evaluation criteria developed by its Colleges and approved by the MAB Board, along with complex and modern procedures appropriate to each task.

MAB strengthens its independent operations through its activities, employing and developing internationally recognized methodologies for evaluation. Its expert, accreditation, analytical, and advisory activities are built on objective criteria aligned with international standards. These activities are conducted independently, impartially, and free from political influence. MAB supports higher education institutions in enhancing their internal quality assurance culture, contributing to the effectiveness of Hungarian higher education, improving its quality management practices, and strengthening its international competitiveness and recognition.

MAB’s internal quality assurance principles (quality policy) are outlined in a separate document.

MAB’s main objectives

As a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), a registered organization in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), and an organization recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), MAB’s main objective is to provide comprehensive expert support for the competitiveness of Hungarian higher education.

In order to achieve these goals, MAB:

evaluates the compliance of higher education institutions and their training programmes in line with ESG standards and guidelines (and in the case of medical education, the WFME-BME standards);

Supports higher education institutions in achieving their own quality goals and in continuously developing their internal quality assurance activities in line with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) principles;

Fulfils national and international accreditation (quality assurance) requirements, conducting cyclical accreditation procedures to determine whether institutions and their programs meet the ESG standards;

Verifies and accredits institutions that meet the standards and provides recommendations for further development in its evaluation reports.

MAB’s evaluation activities

MAB’s evaluation activities include the reviewing the applications for university professorships based on the criteria defined in the National Higher Education Act; conducting international accreditation of medical education in accordance with WFME’s standards for basic medical education; carrying out its core responsibilities related to the establishment and launch of higher education programs.

MAB’s Comprehensive Strategic Goals (2025-2030)

Context:

MAB has successfully achieved the overall goals of its previous strategic period (2019-2024), which included (enhancing quality assessment processes Increasing national and international engagements/activities, introducing a new accreditation system for doctoral schools, strengthening external stakeholder participation in MAB’s activities, and conducting and publishing thematic analyses).

For the upcoming strategic period, MAB defines its comprehensive goals based on the foundation laid in the previous cycle, insights gained from European Higher Education Area (EHEA) organizational structures, and related trends, analyses, thematic professional, and policy documents and recommendations.

Strategic Goals for the Upcoming Period:

Further strengthening the institutional accreditation: Implementing an integrated accreditation procedure that evaluates institutions and all their study programmes (including doctoral programs) collectively, ensuring a more modern and comprehensive quality assurance process in alignment with EHEA and European Union (EU) higher education trends.

Advancing internationalization: Conducting accreditation procedures in English with internationally composed Site Visit Team and organizing international events on quality assurance.

Simplifying and expediting the establishment and launch procedures for higher education programmes: in this context, enhancing institutional autonomy with regard to internal quality assurance.

Continuous development and updating of evaluation criteria and procedures: Adapting to the evolving landscape of digital teaching and learning, micro-credentials, and artificial intelligence while ensuring academic integrity and effectively implementing new procedures.

Training quality assurance experts in higher education and improving communication with quality assurance stakeholders: Strengthening collaboration with higher education institutions through regular professional training sessions and forums.

Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area

ESG 2015-English

ORGANISATION

MAB Boardmd1adm2024-07-02T14:18:28+00:00

MAB Board

Section 71(1) of Act CCIV of 2011 on national higher education specifies that the MAB Board has 20 members. Nine members are delegated by the minister, two by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, one by the Hungarian Academy of Arts, three by the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference, two by religious legal entities maintaining higher education institutions, one by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one by the National Union of Students in Hungary, and one by the National Association of Doctoral Students. Members of the MAB Board are appointed for a term of six years by the Prime Minister upon the proposal of the minister responsible for education. Their mandate can be renewed for one additional term. (The member delegated by the National Association of Doctoral Students is appointed by the Prime Minister for two years.) Members of the Board – with the exception of the person delegated by the National Association of Doctoral Students – are required to hold a doctoral degree or equivalent. Members of the Higher Education Planning Committee as well as rectors and government officials are barred from membership.

Act CCIV of 2011 on national higher education specifies that for the 6-year term beginning on 1 March 2012, the President of the MAB is proposed jointly by the minister responsible for education and the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from among the members of the MAB Board. The President is appointed by the Prime Minister. The position of the President of the MAB has been held by Dr Valéria Csépe since 1 June 2016.

Board members of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (since 1 March 2018)

Name
Valéria Csépe – president
István Greiner – vice president
Bácsné Bába Éva
László Buday
Márton Csanády
Ferenc Gazdag
Gábor Hamza
L. László Kiss
T. László Kóczy
Barna Mezey
Veronika Müller
István Seszták
Péter Tóth
Barbara Menyhárt , HÖOK
Dániel Molnár , DOSZ

CollegesLőrincz Márton2025-03-10T12:15:57+00:00

Colleges

Members of the University Professors’ College

(from September 06 2024)

President

L. László Kiss – full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Co-chairs

László Mátyus – university professor

István Stipta – university professor

Members

Andrea Bencsik – university professor

Judit Csoba – university professor

József Fülöp – university professor

György Gát – university professor

László Gulácsi – university professor

Attila Hegedűs– university professor

Lajos Kemény – university professor, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Ferenc Köteles – university professor

András Liker – university professor

Gabriella Medvegy – university professor

Gábor Mucsi – university professor

László Nyitray – university professor

Zoltán Rajnai – university professor

T. Tamás Sikos – university professor

Miklós Szabó – professor emeritus

Ágota Tóth – university professor

Miklós Tóth – university professor

Members of the Training College
(from 06 September 2024)

Chairman

Réka Franciska Vas – associate professor

Members

Attila Csikász-Nagy –university professor

Zoltán Balogh – college professor

András Derényi – educational development specialist

Bendegúz Dibusz – National Conference of Student Governments

Endre Domokos – associate professor

Cecília Hodúr – university professor

Ildikó Horn – university professor

Levente Varga – National Conference of Student Governments

Accreditation College Members
(from 06 September 2024)

Chairman

Márta Törőcsikné Görög – university professor

Olga Csillik – Higher education – pedagogical instructor-expert

Members

Bendegúz Dibusz – National Conference of Student Governments

Péter Drahos – corporate stakeholder

Gyöngyvér Hervainé Szabó – college professor

Zsolt Kovács – associate professor

Members of the Doctoral Accreditation College
(from June 28, 2024)

Chairman

László Buday – university professor, full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Members

Tamás Béres – university professor

László Csernoch – university professor

János D. Mekis – associate professor

Andrea Miskolciné Mikáczó – associate professor

Zoltán Musinszki – associate professor

Henriett Primecz– university professor

László Varga – university professor

Péter Vámosi – National Association of Doctoral Students

Members of the College of Theology
(from 28 June 2024)

Chairman

István Seszták – college professor

Members

Péter Ágoston Bagyinszki – college associate professor

Nándor Máté Birher – university professor

Tamás Biró – associate professor

Zsuzsanna Farkas – National Association of Doctoral Students

Zoltán Kustár – university professor

István Novák – associate professor

Ferenc Pap – university professor

Csaba Racs – college professor

Katalin Julianna S. Dinnyés – National Association of Doctoral Students

Anna Szalay – National Conference of Student Governments

István Takáts – college professor

László Tóth-Soma – college professor

Attila Thorday – university professor

Csaba Ungvári – college associate professor

SzabolcsVarga – college associate professor

Máté Vasas – National Conference of Student Governments

Krisztián Vincze – university professor

Members of the Medical Education Working Group
(from 6 September 2024)

Chairman

László Mátyus – university professor

Members

László József Czopf – associate professor

Lajos Kemény – university professor, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

György Panyi – university professor

Róbert Nagy – National Conference of Student Governments

Zoltán Zsolt Nagy – university professor, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Olschewski Andrea – university professor

Péter Vámosi – Hungarian Resident Association

SecretariatLőrincz Márton2025-04-02T14:13:19+00:00

Secretariat

MAB Secretariat leaders

Name
Dr. Péter Levente Lakatos – Director General, Member of the ENQA Board and CEENQA Executive Board
Anikó Kovács – Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Eszter Kőfalusi – legal director
Prokajné Dr. Ibolya Szilágyi – economic manager

MAB Secretariat officers

Name
Dr. Ágnes Bálint
Beatrix Dányi
Dr. Diána Csonka
Gergely Horváth
Judit Kondor-Tarsoly
Orsolya Perlaky
Andrea Szlivka

MAB Secretariat administrators

Name
Lili Bögös
Renáta Csorba
Bernadett Drenyovszkiné Katona
Dóra Fetth
Dr. János Incze
Mariann Nagy
Ágnes Schattmann
Barbara Zaja

IT staff of the MAB Secretariat

Name
Attila Borzi – system administrator
Márton Lőrincz – IT administrator

Financial Supervisory Boardmd1adm2025-02-12T16:23:29+00:00

Financial Supervisory Board

Name	Position	Start date of position	End date of position
Mariann Veresné Somos	member	09 September 2019
Ádám Török	member	09 September 2019
János Józsa	member	09 September 2019

Board of Appeals and Complaintsmd1adm2024-07-02T15:27:03+00:00

Board of Appeals and Complaints

Board members

Name	Position	Start date of position	End date of position
Miklós Maróth	Chair	15 February 2019
Attila Császár	member	15 February 2019
Zoltán Nagy	member	15 February 2019
Eszter Kőfalusi	specialist	1 May 2024

Strategic Planning Boardmd1adm2025-01-29T11:21:21+00:00

Strategic Planning Board

The task of the SPB (Strategic Planning Board) is to follow the work of the MAB and to provide advise, especially in its annual meetings where, based on the MAB’s annual report and other documents, the SPB issues Recommendations. The MAB may also ask the SPB on occasion by mail to recommend experts for its external evaluations and to consult on other issues.

Name	Workplace, Position
Dr. Christoph Grolimund	director, AAQ (Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance)
Dr. Guy Haug	higher education consultant, lecturer at the University of Valencia
Dr. Padraig Walsh	CEO, QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland)
Ronny Heintze	Deputy Director, AQAS (Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes)
Prof. Dr. Melita Kovačević	professor, former vice-rector of the University of Zagreb, steering committee member to the Institutional Evaluation Program (IEP) of the European University Association (EUA)
Prof. Dr Marilena Maniaci	member of the board at ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes), board member of HCERES (High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education, France)

Hungarian Advisory Boardmd1adm2023-02-15T09:51:24+00:00

Hungarian Advisory Board

Members

Name	Place of work and position
Gábor Bojár (since 22 June 2018)	President of the Board of Directors, Graphisoft SE
István Petényi (since 26 Ferbruary2021)	Managing Director, evosoft Hungary Kft.
András Háry (since 22 June 2018)	Managing Director, Autóipari Próbapálya Zala Ltd. [Automotive Test Track Zala Ltd.]
Erzsébet Knáb (since 22 June 2018)	Managing Director for Human Resources, Audi Hungaria
Gábor Szabó (since 22 June 2018)	Managing Director, ELI-ALPS
Zita dr. Magyar (since 26 November 2021)	Director, National Office of Vocational Education and Training and Adult Learning
Erzsébet Dr. Németh (since 26 November 2021)	Chairman, State Audit Office of Hungary
Katalin Süle (since 26 November 2021)	National Vice-President for General Agricultural Affairs, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (As a delegate of President Balázs Győrffy),
Gyula Dr. Kincses (since 26 November 2021)	Chairman, Hungarian Medical Chamber
Tamás Bihall (since 26 November 2021)	Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Indrustry, Vice-President for Education and Training
Péter Horváth (since 26 November 2021)	Chairman, National Teachers Chamber
Dr. Lajos Mocsai (since 08 July 2022)	Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the Hungarian University of Sports Science, Hungarian University of Sports Science

POLICIES

MAB Deed of Foundation

MAB Rules of Organisation and Operation

MAB Action plan 2023

Code of Ethics

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Since its establishment, the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB) has been actively involved in international events and organizations related to quality assurance in higher education, maintaining an extensive network with key stakeholders in international quality assurance. As part of this engagement, MAB has participated in the quality assurance-related tasks and working groups of the Bologna Process and contributed to the revision of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) through the QA-Fit project.

In addition to its ongoing and ad hoc international activities, MAB:

is a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA);

is registered on the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR);

is recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME);

is recognized by the U.S. National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA), responsible for determining the equivalence of foreign medical education;

is a member of the Central and Eastern European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA);

is an initiator and founding member of the V4QA Forum, the quality assurance forum of the Visegrad Group countries;

is a founding member of the Global Academic Integrity Network (GAIN);

is an affiliate member of the European University Association (EUA);

is a signatory of the Coalition of Advanced Research Assessment (CoARA) and a member of its national working group;

participates in the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG) thematic peer group on quality assurance (TPG C on QA), responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Bologna Process;

collaborates with over 14 European agencies through bilateral and multilateral formal agreements (Memoranda of Understanding);

has participated in and continues to engage in various European higher education quality assurance projects in different expert and coordination roles (DEQAR-CONNECT, MICROBOL, TSI-OECD, IMINQA, SEQA-ESG, ENQA QAoR WG);

delegates experts to international accreditation procedures, particularly for external quality assurance of joint programs within European University Alliances, following the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programs (European Approach).

MAB continuously analyses and reviews its professional activities based on international (primarily European) trends. The policy framework guiding its work is shaped by the declarations adopted by ministers responsible for higher education in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) member states.