FAQs

Some Commonly Used Terminologies

Licensing: This is a process of permitting a private institution to carryout teaching and learning activities by the NCHE.

Accreditation: refers to the permission granted by Council to an institution to exist and deliver higher education.

Quality Assurance (QA): Quality assurance is the mechanism put in place to guarantee that the education is “fit for purpose” i.e., is good. Every higher education institution must have appropriate and effective internal structures and mechanisms for monitoring its institution quality control procedures to ensure quality.

Statutory Instrument: These are legal documents that provide guidelines for NCHE work.

The Act: This refers to the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act of 2001 (as amended).

Quality Assurance Framework: is a mechanism used by NCHE to guide and monitor the existence and performance of institutions it has accredited to ensure that they conform to the agreed standards.

Capacity Indicators: These are the yardsticks or checklists used to determine the acceptable levels of all areas of an institution as spelt out in Schedules 4 and 5.

Letter of Interim Authority: Letter ofInterim Authority is the first level of permission granted to a private institution that aims to start up a university. The validity of a Letter of Interim Authority is three (3).

Provisional License: Provisional License is a certificate granted by NCHE to an applicant wishing to start a private university. At the point of application, a Letter of Interim Authority should be valid.

Certificate of Registration and Classification: a Certificate of Registration and Classification is granted to Other Tertiary Institutions who posses a Provisional License for a minimum of two years (2) and would have satisfied all the conditions set during their time of licensing.

Charter: a Charter is granted to Universities who posses a Provisional License for a minimum of three years (3) and would have satisfied all the conditions set during their time of licensing.

Other Tertiary Institutions (OTI): Other Tertiary Institutions refer to the category of institutions that are permitted to offer training in higher education from post A-Level certificates to diplomas.

Other Degree Awarding Institution (ODAI): This is a category of institutions that are allowed to offer undergraduate programmes but in specialized areas because they are not universities.

FAQs

No, NCHE does not currently offer research grants.

Ordinarily it should take a short time to verify, equate a qualification but this depends on the magnitude of the case to be handled. Sometimes some cases require investigation and correspondences with the awarding institution. In a few cases such awarding institution may take that long to respond slowing the entire verification and equations process. It is important that applicants fill the form correctly giving recent working contact addresses of their awarding institution and it is also incumbent upon the applicant to furnish us with all the relevant documents

Acquiring a Provisional License follows the procedures outlined in the Licensing Process document. If on submission the applicant follows all that is required, the application process should take anything from three (3) to six (6) months for a Provisional License to be granted.

The NCHE is funded through a subvention from the Government of the Republic of Uganda. However, aware of the financial needs for the NCHE to adequately accomplish it’s regulatory mandate, Parliament passed a law under Statutory Instrument 17 of 2010 to allow the NCHE to collect the sum of UGX 20,000 only from every registered student in recognized institutions of higher learning in Uganda.

The NCHE also seeks grants from development partners for its functions.

Section 5(o) of the UOTIA mandates the NCHE to collect, examine and publish information relating to the different institutions of Higher Education. So far NCHE has published the following documents-:

(a) The Quality Assurance Framework

(b) State of Higher Education

(c) Tracer Studies

(d) Minimum Standards for academic programme

(e) The Licensing Process

No, NCHE is not a Scholarship awarding Entity

No, NCHE does not issue qualifications. However, NCHE receives and accredits academic programmes developed by institutions for higher learning.

The NCHE also verifies and equates the local and foreign qualifications.

You can contact NCHE by visiting its premises between Mondays to Fridays (excluding public holidays) from 08:00am to 5:00pm.

You can also contact the NCHE through the following means-:

Tel: (+256) 312 262140/4

Fax: (+256) 312 262145

Email:info[at]unche.or.ug

Website: www.unche.or.ug

National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) is a statuary body established by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 (as amended) to inter alia-:

(a) Regulate and guide the establishment and management of institutions of higher learning; and

(b) Regulate the quality of higher education, equate qualifications and advise Government on higher education issues