Quality in higher education was not invented in recent decades - universities have always possessed mechanisms for assuring the quality of their work. The rising concern over quality is closely related to the changes in higher education and its social context. Among others, the most conspicuous changes are the massive expansion, diversification, and increased cost in higher education and the new mechanisms of accountability initiated by the state. With these changes, the traditional, internally enacted academic quality-keeping has been given an important external dimension - quality assurance...