Higher education institutions of the Catholic Church are distinguished, according to their aims and course contents, into two categories:
Ecclesiastical universities and Faculties depend directly upon the Holy See regarding their institution, their accreditation (including quality assurance), and the approval of their programmes and degrees and, therefore, are part of the Holy See’s Higher Education System, whereas Catholic Universities and Academies, in general, abide by the national law in the country where they are located.
The academic degrees that are issued by higher education systems, in coherence with international agreements, require each country to draw up a National Qualifications Framework (= NQF), that is consistent with potential overarching frameworks that might exist in different world regions.
The Holy See, through the Dicastery for Culture and Education, is the National authority which has the responsibility for ecclesiastical studies and corresponding qualifications, and has established its own (national) Qualifications Framwork.
Through the Qualifications Framework, all degrees are described and visualised in a way that renders them comparable or compatible with degrees issued by other higher education systems. This instrument also provides indications regarding the presentation and drafting of curricula (that are general in scope in relation to the different study areas), regarding the application of credit points, such as ECTS (to refer to study duration and student workload), and, last but not least, regarding the so called “learning outcomes” to express the knowledge, skills, and competences, achieved by a “typical” student at the completion of the respective programme.
The Qualifications Framework of the Holy See is structured as a graphical map displaying the entire System of Higher Ecclesiastical Studies, including and presenting the programmes that are offered by Institutions erected or approved by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, in a way that is transparent and comparable (to other education systems). Therefore, skills and professional profiles are presented, in relation to possible future professional or academic activities, in order to contribute to building a global reference system that includes degrees awarded in countries which have signed agreements with the Holy See.
The Qualification Framework of the Holy See is characterized by three aspects:
- It includes only Higher Education (it is a Qualification framework, that is organized according to the three cycles defined by the Bologna Process, therefore following the EHEA-NQF structure).
- It is sectoral (it includes only a few subject-matters which make up the Holy See’s Education System).
- It is global (it applies to the Holy See’s academic institutions worldwide).
Directly to the Qualifications Framework of the Holy See:
For more information see http://www.educatio.va (Italian/English) or http://www.dce.va (Italian).
