Each site-visit to a university or higher education institution is undertaken by a team of reviewers. The reviewers all have substantial expertise in quality assurance and great international experience.

For an institutional accreditation, a review team consists normally of five people: a Chair, a Secretary, a student, and two further reviewers. The Chair is in charge of the coordination of the team. The Secretary is in charge of practical arrangements and compiles the draft report. The student is a full member of the team. Besides the coordination and the drafting of the report, there is no pre-defined division of responsibilities, and the team agrees among themselves about the arrangements.

For a program accreditation, a review team consists normally of four people: a Chair, a Secretary, a student, and one further reviewer.

EOEA’s reviewers are typically current or former Rectors, Vice-Rectors, high-ranking officials from national authorities or international organizations, higher education researchers, and international experts on higher education. If an institution wishes that a reviewer with a specific background or field of expertise is incorporated into the team (e.g., an employer or a person), this can normally be discussed and arranged with EOIE. The student reviewers are chosen from the Student Experts Pool on Quality Assurance of the European Students’ Union, all of whom underwent specific training and gained international experience.

The reviewers are chosen by EOEA. Their names are communicated to the applying institution in advance of the site-visit. The institution has the possibility to object to reviewers on the grounds of potential conflicts of interest.

EOEA has a very selective policy of choosing its reviewers. All reviewers need to possess wide-ranging experience in quality assurance. In addition, the reviewers EOEA engages must have been active in the international higher education environment. This is understood as a crucial element, as in this way, it will be ensured that the assessment done by the reviewers does not reflect the situation in their home countries, but rather ensures that international best practices are the center of attention. After all, EOEA provides international accreditation and not foreign accreditation.

Furthermore, only through engaging internationally experienced reviewers, EOEA ensures that the institutions in the process of accreditation will be assessed within the specific context in which they operate, as reviewers are trained to understand the differences of higher education systems and national settings. Contextualization is key to ensuring that the institutions receive an objective assessment.

Even though EOEA only engages highly experienced reviewers, EOEA also provides training for reviewers to ensure that they are always most up-to-date in all areas of relevance.