Pre university education

Institutions that manage the pre-university education system at central level (including VET upper secondary schools) are presented in section 2.2. At regional level the following institutions can be distinguished: 

Regional Education Directorates of Pre-University Education  and Regional Education Offices of Pre-University Education [Drejtorite Rajonale te Arsimit Parauniversitar dhe Zyrat Rajonale te Arsimit Parauniversitar]: These directorates and offices are responsible for management of issues related to education under their area of jurisdiction. 

Local governance Unit: Local governance units in pre-university education are responsible for providing funds for maintenance of buildings of pre-university education. They are responsible also in regard to needles in pre-school education. 

Higher education

The main authorities responsible for higher education policies at central level in Albania as defined by Law on Higher Education  are:

Ministry of Education and  Sport  (MES) tasked with implementation of government policies for higher education through: policy development in the field of higher education and scientific research and adoption of a strategic plan in this area; drafting and proposing of legal acts for higher education and scientific research; proposing a funding model and the budget for higher education and scientific research to the Government; submitting proposals to the Government on opening, closing, or merging higher education institutions; approval of opening of new study programmes, reorganization, suspension of activities and their closing; auditing the use of public funds in the higher education institutions at least once in three years; submitting a proposal for the maximum limit of tuition fees for study programmes in the first cycle in public higher education institutions; managing the State register of scientific degrees and academic credentials; ensuring that election processes in public higher education institutions respect the rules and submission of elected rectors for appointment by the President of the Republic.

Council of Higher Education and Science [Këshilli i Arsimit të Lartë dhe Kërkimit Shkencor] is an advisory body for the MESY responsible for implementation of policies as well as quality development and promotion in higher education.

Educational Services Centre (ESC) [Qendra e Shërbimeve Arsimore] tasked to provide services in the field of higher education to citizens and institutions, as well as to ensure public access to higher education data. ESC coordinates the application process of higher education institutions for first cycle study programmes, as well as for integrated and professional programmes. It creates and administers the national register for students of all levels and a database of HEIs by study programme and degrees or certifications issued. It provides each student enrolled in a higher education institution with a unique matriculation number that accompanies the student until graduation in the respective programme.

National Agency for Funding in Higher Education:[ Agjencia Kombëtare për Financimin e Arsimit të Lartë]  is an institution dependent from Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth established in Tirana. It is tasked with the distribution of public funds in support of the activity of public higher education institutions; support with student scholarship and guarantee of student credit schemes based on legal framework enforce. Its main tasks and responsibilities include:to propose to the Ministry of Education  Sports and Youth  the criteria and the distribution of public funds approved by this ministry; based on the criteria of the formula approved by the Ministry the Agency distributes the funds for support of higher education institutions and academic infrastructure and distributes the fund for competitive projects for development of higher education institutions as well as distributes the funds for student supports. Other tasks include guarantee of the scheme of student credits; approves preliminarily the opening of new study programmes in a public higher education institutions where requested that the last is funded by state budget; publishes periodic report on administrative and financial functioning of Higher education institutions; presents to the higher education institution the documents of priorities where the structure of expenditures of the public fund for scientific research is done conform the priorities of the country six months prior to funding; signs with each higher education institution the contract of accountability and guarantee; each year publishes the guidelines with necessary information higher education institutions shall include into their annual expenditures report; publishes guidances regarding the ways and forms of sustainable management of higher education institutions. Conducts risks assessments and financial sustainability assessment for each higher education institutions; conducts assessments of the conditions a higher education institution shall fulfill to address loaning conditions; assesses the fulfillment of the conditions of the student credit scheme by loaning institutions publishes higher education institutions funding .

Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (AQAHE) [Agjencia për Sigurimin e Cilësisë në Arsimin e Lartë]; is tasked with monitoring and evaluation of the quality of higher education institutions as well as offered programmes through quality assurance mechanisms, accreditation and other processes. AQAHE collaborates also with higher education institutions for establishment and functioning of internal quality assurance systems.  AQAHE enjoys independence in drafting and adoption of its procedures, evaluation criteria and formats, selection of experts and ad hoc assessment commissions, as well as the content and results of academic quality evaluation reports.

Accreditation Board (AB) [Bordi i Akreditimit] is a collective decision-making body established in Agency for Quality Assurance that takes the final decision on accreditation of higher education institutions and their study programmes.

National Agency of Scientific Research and Innovation (NASRI) [Agjencia Kombëtare për Kërkimin Shkencor dhe Inovacionin] is a public institution under the authority of MES tasked with allocation of project-based funding for scientific research. NASRI identifies priority areas for research, technology and innovation, and it assesses the programmes and projects in the aforementioned areas at a national level. It is also responsible for disseminating information and coordinating the application processes for international research projects in higher education. NASRI organises the evaluation process of research activities carried out in research units of higher education institutions every four years, and ranks them based on this assessment. NASRI allocates competition-based funding for doctoral study projects and administers other funds for research and innovation in the framework of national programmes, international and bilateral scientific research schemes using the call for application mechanisms.