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Accreditation models in the international context mainly consider the evaluation of learning outcomes and the
ability of programs (or higher education institutions) to achieve the educational objectives stated in their mission.
However, it is not clear if these objectives and therefore their outcomes satisfy real national and regional needs, a
critical point in engineering master's programs, especially in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to
study the importance of the local relevancy evaluation of these programs and to analyze the main models of
quality assurance and accreditation bodies of USA, Europe and Latin America, in order to ascertain whether the
relevancy is evaluated or not. After a literature review, we found that in a free-market economic context and
international education, the accreditation of master’s programs follows an international accreditation model, and
doesn´t take in account in most cases criteria and indicators for local relevancy. One way to bridge this gap is as
follows: it is necessary both, international accreditation to ensure the effectiveness of the program (achievement
of learning outcomes) and the national accreditation through which it could ensure local relevancy of programs,
for which we are giving some indicators.
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