National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation (NCAAA)

The National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation (NCAAA) is a governmental center responsible for quality assurance and academic accreditation of post-secondary education. It is a subsidiary of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was established by the Higher Education Council (now the Council of Universities' Affairs) in 2004 under the name 'National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment' before changing its name to 'National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation'.

NCAAA is tasked with several responsibilities, including conducting evaluation studies in favor of institutions and programs in the Kingdom, accreditation of higher education institutions and programs within the Kingdom, following up on the quality of accredited higher education institutions and their programs, organizing and monitoring programs in the Kingdom applying for academic accreditation from international bodies, accreditation of international institutions and programs seeking accreditation in the Kingdom or abroad, and cooperation with various relevant sectors in and out of the Kingdom.

The National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation provides a range of services benefiting individuals, as well as government and private entities. Among these services is programmatic accreditation, which is a recognition from the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation that the academic program has met the required quality assurance and academic accreditation standards.​​

Program accreditation aims to implement quality systems to achieve continuous improvement of the academic programs within the framework of integrity, transparency, fairness, and a supportive organizational environment. It also aims to promote quality and excellence in higher education programs through academic evaluation and accreditation

The center also provides institutional accreditation services, which is a recognition from the Education and Training Evaluation Commission that the educational institution has a vision, a mission, and a set strategic plan in line with national trends. It also implies a governance system that ensures its administrative effectiveness and efficiency, clear policies and procedures for designing and approving academic programs, financial resources, infrastructure, material, and technology that support its activities.​​​

Institutional accreditation aims to raise institutions’ professional performance level and enhance and maintain the quality of higher education. Additionally, it checks if institution outcomes are globally competitive in skills, verifies that institution programs meet the development requirements, and aligns institutions with global standards and professional requirements.

The National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation presents the 'Digital Platform for Accreditation', a service that enables educational institutions to register for academic accreditation or ranking. The center also offers international accreditation services for post-secondary academic programs at local educational institutions by international accreditation bodies that apply high-level global quality standards in the international accreditation process. The center evaluates requests from educational institutions for accreditation from international accreditation bodies, ensuring their high scientific status, and verifying the completion of the required documents by educational institutions.

The center offers a survey service, which is a questionnaire aimed at enabling members of educational institutions, employers, and community groups to express their opinions on the education experience and university environment, graduate skills, and other aspects related to higher education. This contributes to the improvement of the quality of education and learning.

The center implements the academic accreditation service for centers and programs teaching the Arabic language to non-native speakers around the world, which will help ensure the quality of their outputs. The service aims for continuous development of Arabic language education programs, as well as ensuring the quality level of the centers adopting these programs.

The center's services include a ranking service. The General Administration of Ranking Programs is responsible for designing the framework for ranking education and training institutions, including ranking categories and indicators, aligned with distinguished international ranking, and implementing strategic and operational plans for periodic application. It operates through a procedural framework for the evaluation of these institutions in terms of specific aspects using an acknowledged methodology and according to sustainable measures and indicators. This reveals their strength or need for development according to their level of ranking and specific ranking categories. Hence, its results are published through the official channels of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission.

The Council of Ministers directed on June 14, 2022, to establish a center for accrediting military education and training institutions (DERA) within the Education and Training Evaluation Commission. A decision was issued by the Board of Directors of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission on June 23, 2023, to establish a center for accrediting military education and training institutions and their programs under the name 'National Center for Military Academic Accreditation and Evaluation'. The center aims to lead the progress of military education and training, enhancing the quality of this type of education and training, and contributing to the improvement of outputs of military education and training institutions.