National Board of Accreditation or NBA of India is a government an independent accrediting body which conducts periodic evaluations of technical institutions & programmes. It has the full authority to recognise or derecognise institutions and programmes under them. It is the only authorized body in India entrusted with the task of undertaking accreditation of technical education programmes. It was established in 1994 by AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) as an autonomous body under section 10(u) of AICTE act, 1987. As of 2012, National Board of Accreditation has become an Independent Society constituted under the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. It gained this status as result of a bribery scandal which involved AICTE. Earlier, NBA India was required to make recommendations to AICTE based on the norms and Standards specified by it. The need to setup such an agency arose due to unprecedented expansion of the technical education sector in India. This expansion raised questions about the quality of the education imparted, the competence of the graduates and their relevance to the current technical manpower needs of India. However, NBA Accreditation is voluntary and not mandatory. As per, March 2012 reports a bill towards making it compulsory is under process in the parliament.

The assessment for NBA accreditation is performed by the Chairperson and the programme experts in consultation with the institution. The institute has to agree with details of the visit based on NBA guidelines. The Team carries out physical verification of infrastructure facilities, records, interviews faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry and any other activity deemed necessary and ensure transparency. NBA is provisional Member of Washington Accord. The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for professional engineering academic degrees, between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. As of 2010 its signatories include Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The NBA has already assessed and accredited nearly 1000 programmes in about 200 technical institutions in the country covering a wide spectrum, that includes full-fledged technical Universities, autonomous/affiliated/Government/aided Institutions, National Institutes of Technology (earlier Regional Engineering Colleges), as well as private self-financing Institutions. The NBA functions through its Board, Sectorial Committees, the Visiting Teams and is supported by its Secretariat, located at the AICTE Headquarters, New Delhi.

Structure of NBA India

The Composition of the Board is as follows:

Programs and disciplines considered for accreditation by NBA

Under the provisions of the AICTE Act of 1987 all diploma, degree and post graduate programmes coming under the following disciplines are covered under Accreditation by NBA

• Engineering and Technology
• Management
• Architecture
• Pharmacy
• Hotel management and Catering Technology
• Town and Country Planning
• Applied Arts and Crafts

Importance of NBA Accreditation

• NBA accreditation means quality education. Not all institutes receive NBA accreditation. It is only after meeting the quality criteria that the institutes, their education programmes and technical courses receive this approval.

• Students who have studies from a NBA accredited institutes are preferred more by Public Sector Undertakings in India as compared to non-NBA institutes.

• NBA ensures that the education you are getting is of high standards comparable to institutes in USA and Europe.

• NBA accreditation also means that your chances of employment are bright and you will be considered for a placement, especially in the government sector.
• Being a member of Washington Accord, graduates of accredited programs in any of the signatory countries are recognized by the other signatory countries as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering.