This volume is the fourth in a series related to a project to create a Regional University Network on Governance and Management of Higher Education in South East Europe. It is both an essay on and source manual for quality assurance in higher education. Part 1 describes the origins and concepts of quality assurance systems that have been emerging in higher education throughout Europe, North America, and elsewhere. Examples are chosen from Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. The question of program evaluation versus institutional evaluation is explored, as is the question of having one or several evaluation and assessment agencies for any one country. Part 2 contains five "annexes" on topical issues, mostly from official sources, that illustrate how different quality assurance organizations operate. Part 3 contains a set of specialized bibliographies on the subject of quality assurance in higher education. (SLD)