The world of higher education has been changing rapidly over the last 30 years with the move to mass education due to the needs of the knowledge economy for an appropriately skilled labour force and driven by continuous advances in technology. The purpose of this publication is to provide an overview of how quality assurance (QA) bodies are accountable to the public for how they accredit or quality assure effective institutional performance in the form of outcomes for students, often referred to as student success or student outcomes. The project consists of two parts. Part I is a mapping of practices of QA bodies with respect to performance measures related to student outcomes. On the basis of the findings in Part I, Part II presents case studies of practices for public accountability used by selected QA bodies. The project publication concludes with some general remarks and ideas for future consideration. [The Council for Higher Education Accreditation International Quality Group (CHEA/ CIQG) thanks the four QA bodies -- the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), the Malaysia Qualifications Agency (MQA), the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) -- whose practices are included in the report -- for their support and contributions to the author in preparing the case studies.]