In this paper, we explore the difference in quality between accredited and non-accredited higher education institutions (HEIs) in Colombia. For that purpose, we test if the difference in the national exam of student performance (Saber Pro) between accredited and non-accredited institutions is statistically significant by employing a propensity matching score approach based on common financial characteristics in order to avoid issues of selection bias. Our results indicate that the difference in performance between accredited and non-accredited institutions is positive and statistically significant. This performance difference can be attributed to the substantial differences in the patterns of expenditure and asset investment between accredited and non-accredited HEIs.  

Although national quality systems for ensuring the quality of higher education are quite heterogeneous, there seems to be consensus on what the common determinants of a successful quality system are. Williams et al. (2013), in their multi-country survey of higher education quality systems, argue that the most common determinants are resources, environment, connectivity, and output. Resources refers to the extent to which teaching and research is either financed by the government or by the private sector, adjusted according to the type of HEI (public or private) that predominates in a given country. Environment refers to the role of government regulation in the higher education sector, the conditions of academic employment, and the extent of the mix in the supply of higher education between public and private HEIs. Connectivity refers to the extent of internationalization of the student body and in the number of research articles or activities conducted with other HEIs at both the national and international level. Finally, output refers to the impact of research, teaching, and training. In the case of research, output is measured by the impact factor of all HEIs in a given country, and similarly, teaching and training are measured by the numbers of graduates and their reported employability at the national level.

In Latin America during the 1990s and 2000s, the process of globalization led to an exponential growth in the offer of higher education services. This growth was led mainly by private-sector universities with different levels of quality. As a common denominator in the region, much of the growth was achieved by offering programs of dubious quality. Therefore, in order to control for quality, many of the national governments created institutions for accrediting the quality of the programs offered at the national level (Lamarra, 2003). However, it is important to note that although there were problems with quality at the low end of the spectrum, at the high end of the spectrum, many private-sector universities in Latin America have been responsible for expanding participation rates among students. Many authors agree that a national system benefits from having both private and public institutions, and that the most effective form of government regulation is the kind that sets the rules in terms of quality and effectively evaluates performance, but allows for some degree of autonomy in the implementation of quality systems by the institutions that conform to the national system (Altbach and Salmi, 2011; Jamil, 2007; Martin et al., 2011; Patrick and Stanley, 1998).

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