USS civil engineering programs achieve international accreditation with EU standards

The German agency AQAS granted international accreditation to four civil engineering programs at Universidad San Sebastián (USS), certifying them under European quality standards. These programs are pioneers in Chile in meeting this level of international quality.

Four undergraduate programs at the USS School of Engineering—Civil Engineering, Civil Engineering in Computer Science, Civil Mining Engineering, and Civil Industrial Engineering (both daytime and Advance modalities)—have been accredited by AQAS for a period of six years. This achievement positions USS among the first universities in Chile to obtain international recognition under European quality criteria.

According to Gonzalo Puentes, Vice-Rector for Quality Assurance, the programs were evaluated across seven dimensions: curriculum quality, academic staff, quality assurance mechanisms, learning process, teaching infrastructure, access to information, and student evaluation. “This recognition reinforces the high level of civil engineering taught at USS and marks an important step in the internationalization of our programs,” Puentes stated.

He also highlighted that the accreditation raises these programs to the level of their European peers: “Universidad San Sebastián is advancing in the internationalization of its quality. In engineering, our institutional goal is to support the faculty’s development and expand future agreements and partnerships with European universities. This includes academic exchanges and opportunities for our students to access postgraduate programs abroad.”

USS Chancellor Hugo Lavados celebrated the milestone: “In addition to the seven-year accreditation recently obtained by our Psychology program, we now add the international accreditation of four engineering programs by AQAS. Both results recognize the strength of our study plans, research, and community engagement projects, as well as the excellence of our faculty and program directors.”

Federico Casanello, Dean of the School of Engineering, Architecture and Design, added: “Moving from national certification to international accreditation under European standards is a significant leap. It represents a tremendous recognition that will foster the internationalization of our school. This achievement will allow us to attract foreign students, strengthen academic exchanges, and align our programs with the standards of universities in Germany and across Europe.”