CIQG Member Spotlight: The Federation of Mexican Private Higher Education Institutions (FIMPES)

The Federation of Mexican Private Higher Education Institutions (FIMPES) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that represents, promotes and evaluates the quality of private higher education institutions in Mexico. Established in 1982 by a group of universities, it has been a pioneer and promoter of quality assurance in Mexico, developing an institutional accreditation process in 1992. 

FIMPES considers institutional accreditation as a mechanism through which, and accreditation organization, that works through collegiate bodies, trustworthy as being objectives, independent and transparent; validates that an institution:

a) Is what it says it is.
b) Provides what it offers to provide.
c) Guarantees the minimal standards of quality needed in a serious academic offer, and demonstrates public commitment to the elevation of its quality levels in a continual improvement process.

Quality assurance in Mexico is, to this date, a voluntary process for universities (public or private). However, accreditation is considered a good  practice to highlight the university's values and commitment to quality, especially in the private sector that offers services to around 1.8 million students that study at over 3,300 private universities. 109 private universities with over 900,000 students are members of FIMPES (almost 51% of all enrollments in private higher education and approximately 18% of all students in higher education in Mexico) and offer around 10,000 programs in more that 400 campi in 31 states of the country.

FIMPES’ accreditation system has evolved since its creation, and now in version 4.1, includes a critical focus on institutional effectiveness and monitors key indicators and aspects related to academic integrity. FIMPES encourages universities to focus on their social responsibility and demonstrate the achievement of their mission, vision and goals while demonstrating the results of their graduates. The system includes criteria the consider the opinions of key external stakeholders. During the offsite on and on site visits, focus groups with alumni and employers are held to gather opinions. 

FIMPES’s accreditation is voluntary, yet it has issued over 400 accreditation statements since its establishment. The commitment to quality is a requirement for adhesion and permanence in FIMPES for universities. To this date, 77 private universities are accredited by FIMPES and the other affiliates are undergoing different stages of the institutional accreditation process. In fact around 90% of the accredited programs (by Mexican programatic accreditation agencies) offered by Mexican private universities are of FIMPES’ affiliated universities. 

FIMPES’ institutional accreditation system was first recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2002. In 2018 FIMPES was recognized as a quality assurance agency by the same entity.

In order to maintain its accreditation system up to date to incorporate the trends in higher education, FIMPES is affiliated to CHEA’s CIAQG, INQAAHE and RIACES among other associations. It also has signed memorandums of understanding with WSCUC and ACBSP.  FIMPES has collaborated with Latin-American quality assurance associations to share the Mexican experience in the matter.