Digital technologies have transformed the way people interact, work and learn. In higher education, this has led governments, quality assurance (QA) agencies and higher education institutions (HEIs) across the OECD to reflect on how to ensure that digital education in its fully online and hybrid forms provides learners with opportunities to reach learning and employment outcomes similar to those achieved through traditional in person instruction. Concerns have emerged following the COVID-19 pandemic, during which some HEIs, instructors and students had negative experiences of fully remote online instruction as they were insufficiently prepared and supported for the digital transition. As digital technologies have – or in the very near future will – become an intrinsic part of all higher education, jurisdictions across the OECD have started to reflect on how to adapt their QA systems to strengthen the capacity of HEIs for assuring the quality of their education offer, including digital courses and programmes, and how to ensure accountability through meaningful and purposeful external QA that includes specific indicators for digital education.

While accredited distance learning programmes represent only a very small share of the total number of higher education programmes on offer in Hungary today (0.004% in 2021), the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many higher education institutions (HEIs) to rapidly develop their digital course offerings. This has happened outside of existing regulation on study formats and programme accreditation, with public authorities granting exceptional approval to authorise their initiatives. As part of wider efforts to support a modernisation of teaching and learning in general, the Hungarian government is committed to supporting a further expansion of digital higher education in Hungary and introduce measures to assure its quality.

This project, led and implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was carried out with financial support provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), and in close collaboration with the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB).This chapter presents the project’s context and objectives, defines key concepts and starting points, and presents the analytical approach and methodology underpinning the project.

This project, led and implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was carried out with financial support provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), and in close collaboration with the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB).This chapter provides an analysis of Hungary’s regulatory framework and external quality assurance system for higher education, and provides recommendations on how they can be modified to support the further development and quality enhancement of digital higher education.

This project, led and implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), was carried out with financial support provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), in close collaboration with the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB). This chapter analyses trends in institutional practice for the quality management of digital higher education in Hungary and provides recommendations on how accreditation processes can be revised to incentivise institutions to take greater responsibility for the quality management and innovation of their (digital) education offerings.

This project, led and implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), was carried out with financial support provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), in close collaboration with the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB).This chapter analyses Hungary’s institutional support landscape for digital higher education and provides recommendations on how they can be strengthened to build the capacity of higher education institutions (HEIs) to assure the quality of their (digital) education offerings.