We believe that the value of an education is largely defined by its match with the expectations of the student pursuing the education and the practical use of the achieved skills and knowledge in today’s open economy. Our Undergraduate and (Post)Graduate qualifications, including the degrees of Associate, Bachelor, Master and Doctorate, that are awarded upon successful completion of a study program, are professional and international qualifications awarded by United Institute’s HQ in Switzerland, based on the recommendation of the Academic Council and of the faculty of the local campuses where credits were earned.

The awarded qualifications are either state-recognized, university-validated or private. The state-recognized qualifications awarded by United Institute are regulated through the respective accreditation schemes. These include our Professional Master programs. The university-validated qualifications awarded by our partner university are regulated through their respective regulations. These include the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Global Business program. The private (programmatically-accredited) qualifications awarded by the institution’s HQ in Switzerland are not regulated under the Swiss Higher Education Act of September 2011 and may not provide access to government employment, regulated professions, or further studies at other or public institutions. These include all other programs. Our study programs are American-inspired, and several are programmatically-accredited by a recognized US-based agency, but our institution itself does not hold US-regional or US-national accreditation. An overview of regulated professions in Europe is available in the European Commission’s Regulated Profession Database.

The local service entities operating their respective local campuses provide local education services under supervision from the institution’s HQ in Switzerland. Our local campuses operate under an internal validation model whereby they do not award their own qualifications but facilitate the teaching and learning of hybrid study programs that may be completed locally only partially. Our education services are considered non-regulated under a constitutional freedom to organize education.

We have achieved institutional accreditation from an EQAR-listed agency, and several of our campuses have achieved institutional certification from reputable local agencies, but our local campuses are not registered with or recognized by the relevant local Ministry of Education, and are not accredited by the relevant local accreditation authorities. Our professionally-oriented study programs are based on the European higher education guidelines as outlined in the Bologna agreements. We aim for full compatibility with both the European and American educational models, but do not necessarily follow the local educational model. Compatibility is evaluated through institutional and programmatic accreditation, as well as through cooperation agreements with our European and American academic partners. Most of the study programs leading to our private qualifications have achieved recognized programmatic accreditation, but they may not be considered to hold the same value, but also not necessarily a lower value, as a qualification awarded by a locally registered, accredited and/or otherwise recognized higher education institution that follows the local educational model.

Admission requirements for study programs are set by each institution independently. Although many of our students have continued their education at other institutions around the world, it should be noted that public institutions may not consider students with qualifications from private institutions such as ours, and that institutions with academically oriented study programs may not consider students who graduated from professionally oriented study programs, such as ours. It is therefore important to decide on an institution and study program for further education based on its compatibility with your current or former institution and study program. Our first recommendation is to consider study programs organized by our academic partners. Our second recommendation is to consider the (accredited) member institutions of the accreditation organizations whose quality standards we follow to maximize compatibility. Students who earned an American regionally-accredited degree or a European state-recognized degree (from one of our academic partners) may have additional further education opportunities available to them.

Furthermore, the “European Area of Recognition Manual”, that provides information about “practical guidelines for fair recognition of qualifications”, as developed by experts from various ENIC’s and NARIC’s under the European Area of Recognition project, recognizes that institutions that are not specifically following a national higher education system may still be offering legitimate study programs and qualifications. The evaluation flowchart in the manual prescribes that the responsible admissions officer should conduct research into the legitimacy of the institution and the qualification through, among others, information obtained from the applicant and from third-party quality assurance organizations. Upon confirming the legitimacy, recognition of the qualification should be considered for admission.