An engineering college that has NBA accreditation, carries the stamp of recognition for its education quality assurance both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Colleges are periodically evaluated for stringent NBA accreditation criteria with the purpose that they are on par with international best practices. It is mandated that all engineering colleges have NBA accreditation by 2022.Educational institutions eligible for NBA accreditation can offer courses from diploma level to postgraduate level, in the fields of engineering and technology, computer applications, pharmacy, management, hotel management and catering technology and architecture.It is indeed an honor to have the badge of accreditation stamped on your engineering programs. You are sending out a message that your programs have been assessed by experts in the field and found to have met premier quality standards. This is the biggest advantage of NBA program outcomes to both engineering colleges and their students.

Importance of NBA in the international arena

NBA had become the permanent signatory member of the Washington Accord on 13th June 2014. This Accord is an international agreement between 20 countries and is entered into by authorities, like the NBA, responsible for accrediting engineering degree programs in their own countries.This enables Indian graduates from accredited engineering programs to practice in or go for higher education to other Washington Accord countries. This mostly applies to students who have graduated from NBA accredited programs offered by Tier – 1 institutions.

The Ultimate list of benefits of NBA Accreditation:
1. Global mobility, increased employability, and greater opportunity
2. Better recognition for Institutions
3. Continuous quality improvement
4. Improved Student Performance
5. Attracts employers attention
6. A tone of credibility to the institutions
7. Easy funding options
8. Better quality assurance to society
9. Smarter students
10. Stimulates International Accreditations

1. Global mobility, increased employability, and greater opportunity:

From our previous blogs, you would have understood that India’s technical education got into conformity to quality education with its sign up with Washington Accord in the year 2014.Indian graduates from the NBA accredited engineering programs gained an entry ticket into its member countries easier than before. Here is evidence from the Institute of International Education (IIT).These students were either into their under graduation/graduation, training program or non-degrees.The opportunities that came along this mobility were massive.

• Students got to continue their higher education, earn a job, start a consultancy [across the globe] on par with the natives.
• Boosted national economy with mutual information exchange with foreign students being able to study in India

2. Better recognition for Institutions:

With the mobility of students across the globe comes an advantage of global acceptance. With such acceptance, a technical institute constantly finds better ways to innovate and experiment to stay supreme in its ventures.It tries out new teaching/learning paths, betters its pedagogy, initiates constant improvement plans to analyze its strengths, gaps, and opportunities. By all this, an NBA institute gets a greater identity and a focused path towards the future.

3. Continuous quality improvement

That’s the weightage NBA gives this particular parameter. By the time a higher educational institute is offered its ranking, the NBA accreditation process drills down to its intricate layer of the institution’s programs and closes all its loops. Loops in terms of Course Outcomes (COs), Program Outcomes (POs), Program Specific Outcomes (PSOs), Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), Program Curriculum, Teaching-Learning Processes, Assessment Methodologies, the Pedagogy, Infrastructure, Delivery System, etc.The constant feedback from the NBA accreditation body provides the educational institutes during its accreditation process is noteworthy. The institution emerges as an epitome of perfection with quality assurance, making it accepted worldwide, with an increased Admission rate, which improves the institute’s overall revenue.

4. Improved Student Performance:

An NBA accredited program of the institute may show improved student performance.Using Outcome-based Education (OBE) as a metric, NBA measures student’s outcomes based on their knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Besides, the high-defined curriculum, extraordinary lab facilities, industry experiences give students a tremendous exposure that makes them employment-ready.

5. Attracts employers attention:
Unaccredited still? Employers may deny you.
What if the other countries jump on the bandwagon?
The employees’ preference seems to have changed recently. Big-sized organizations have started to show bias in their hiring process. International companies have accreditation as the main determinant during recruiting. Kuwait is the first nation to spur this up! Who knows? Slowly in the future, NBA accreditation may become imperative and students from the NBA accredited programme maybe be given preference over the others for the hiring process.
6. A tone of credibility and autonomy

Owning a Category 1 status is an oomph factor for any institution. This categorization as per AICTE’s new framework sets a tone of credibility and opens many opportunistic ways.With no evidence of irregularities and proper adherence to the compliances set, the Category 1 institutions can spike up the sky! They are given the autonomy to include new programmes and courses, open research parks/learning centers, enhance foreign/local intakes of students and faculty, encourage tie-ups with global B-schools, commence twinning programs, offer research grants, all by themselves.

7. Easy funding options

Do you have an NBA accreditation? The funding agencies might like you the most when it comes to releasing grants.If you may wish to expand your institute in terms of research and development, the whole process of applying becomes easy with an NBA accreditation.NBA accredited Institutions are eligible to demand a number of AICTE funds including TAPTEC, R&D, MODROBS.Besides the above, they also are qualified to approach funds for their research projects from government organizations including The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Science & Technology (DST), The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES), etc.

8. Better quality assurance to society

With NBA accreditation comes a certainty on the quality of education offered, which the society can rely upon. This quality acceptance brings goodwill and trustworthiness, hand-in-hand.The National Board of Accreditation’s (NBA) periodic evaluations are always at par with the parameters and criteria laid by AICTE. All the accredited institutions try to sustain the quality mark in them. They have a campus-wide dedicated Internal Quality Assurance Cell (NBA -IQAC) to measure the program’s quality sustenance. This committee assesses, advises, monitors, all quality aspects concerning the entire execution of the program’s quality.

9. Smarter students

Outcome-based Education’s theory which focuses on skills and outcomes forms a solid base for student education. Assessments, experiences opportunities all support the graduating students to achieve their goals to the fullest.The Course Outcomes and Program Outcomes holds a weightage of 175 off the total 1000 points. Students who undergo OBE as a medium tend to become smarter, fully qualified for their future employment.

10. Stimulates International Accreditations

With NBA accreditation, an institute’s gaps get ironed out. Its policies and systems fall well in line with its vision and mission. As most of the international accreditation’s essentials are found in NBA accreditation, it becomes easy for an institute to indulge in its strategical planning of acquiring other international accreditations. NBA thus acts as a stimulator of international accreditations.