The educational offer in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation
One of ARES's missions is to propose to the Government changes to the educational offer in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
In this context, ARES has established procedures that allow higher education institutions to apply for authorisation to organise new study programmes.
What is authorisation?
According to the Landscape Decree of 7 November 2013, “authorisation” is defined as “the capacity granted by decree to a higher education institution to organise a study programme in a specific geographical area, to award an academic degree and to issue the associated certificates and diplomas”.
What is the procedure for obtaining authorisation?
ARES organises the submission of authorisation applications, analyses them on the basis of specific criteria defined in the Landscape Decree (see below), and then submits an opinion to the Government in which it proposes that new authorisations be granted (only for applications that have received a favourable opinion from the ARES Board of Directors).
After approval by the Government, it is the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation that ultimately grants authorisations by voting on a decree and adding them to the annexes of the Landscape Decree.
The legal provisions underlying the procedures established by ARES and the criteria for analysing authorisation applications are set out in Articles 88 and 88/1 of the Landscape Decree.
FURTHER INFORMATION: All information relating to the authorisation procedures, as well as links to the various online forms used, are published on the ARES authorisation website.