At the session held on 16 December 2022, the Croatian Parliament passed the Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Science, which regulates the internal quality assurance and quality enhancement of higher education institutions and research institutes, the external quality evaluation of higher education institutions and research institutes, and the organisational structure and competences of the Agency for Science and Higher Education.

The new Act (Official Gazette 151/2022) replaced the Act on Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (Official Gazette 45/2009) on 30 December 2022, so the latter is no longer in force.

Pursuant to the new Act, the initial accreditation procedure as it applies to study programmes is initiated by applying for the issuance of a licence to deliver a study programme. The application is submitted to the Agency using a standardised form and pursuant to the instructions provided by the Agency.

The Agency is currently drafting the necessary forms for the initial accreditation procedure of study programmes. These will subsequently be subject to public consultation. Once the forms have been adopted by the Accreditation Council, they will be available on the Agency website and higher education institutions will be informed of this in due time.