The Akkrediterungs-, Certifizierungs- und Qualitätssicherungs-Institut (Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute) (ACQUIN) is a school accreditation system founded in the year 2001 as a consequence of the European Bologna process and the upcoming need for assuring the quality of newly introduced undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Germany.

[1][2] Nowadays ACQUIN is an association of over 100 higher education institutions from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and the United States of America.

ACQUIN operates as a non-profit organisation which is financed through membership fees as well as through Higher Education Institutions for accreditation services provided.

A main objective is to provide guidance and information for students, employers and higher education institutions and to contribute to more transparency in the market of study programs.

Degree programs are evaluated by reason of their characteristic purpose as well as on the basis of the quality criteria developed and applied by the agency, regardless of their institutional membership.