Your 2026 Guide to Postgrad Program Accreditation: Standards and Criteria for Argentine Universities

Understanding Postgrad Program Types and Their Core Requirements

Before you even think about putting together an accreditation application, you need to clearly define your program. The type of postgraduate program dictates many of the subsequent requirements. This isn't just semantics; it's about the fundamental purpose and structure of your offering.

1. Define Your Program Type: Specialization, Master's, or Doctorate

Each type has distinct objectives and final project requirements. Get this wrong, and you'll be redesigning from scratch.

• Specialization:
  • Purpose: Deepens expertise in a specific area within a professional field or across professions. If it's practice-focused, it needs a strong intensive practical component.
  • Exit Requirement: An individual, integrative final project.
  • Title Awarded: "Specialist," specifying the profession or application field.
  • Minimum Hours: 360 clock hours, excluding the final project, with practical training included.
• Master's (Magister):
  • Purpose: Provides academic and/or professional training, deepening theoretical, methodological, technological, management, or artistic knowledge.
  • Exit Requirement: An individual, written final project (project, case study, artistic work, thesis, etc., depending on type).
  • Title Awarded: "Magister," precisely specifying a discipline, interdisciplinary area, profession, or application field.
  • Minimum Hours: 700 clock hours total. At least 540 hours must be for courses/seminars; the rest can be for the final project or complementary activities.
  • Two Sub-types:
    • Academic Master's: Focuses on research, deepening knowledge and research methodology. Final work is a thesis demonstrating the state of the art and research methodology.
    • Professional Master's: Strengthens professional competencies. Final work is a project, case study, artistic production, or similar, demonstrating innovative application or personal production linked to theory, resolving complex problems.
• Doctorate (Doctor):
  • Purpose: Trains postgraduates to make original contributions to a knowledge area, emphasizing research and academic excellence.
  • Exit Requirement: An individual thesis under supervision, providing an original contribution with strong theoretical and methodological rigor. Evaluated by a jury including at least one external member, excluding the supervisor.
  • Title Awarded: "Doctor," precisely specifying a discipline or interdisciplinary area.
  • Hours: Determined by your university.

Watch out for: The title's denomination. It must match the program name exactly, avoid periods and parentheses, and not imply new professional activities or specific competencies beyond what the degree inherently offers.

Structuring Your Curriculum for Accreditation Success

Your curriculum is the heart of your program. It needs to be robust, well-defined, and meet specific structural and hourly requirements. Don't just throw courses together; think about the logical progression and how each component contributes to the overall objectives.

2. Design Your Curriculum Structure and Modality

This covers how your program is organized and delivered. Each choice has implications for planning and resources.

2.1. Choose Your Plan of Study Structure

• Structured: The entire study plan is fixed and common for all students. This is the easiest to manage for initial accreditation.
• Semi-structured: Some core activities are fixed, but students (or the institution) select additional pathways based on their area of knowledge or final project topic. This offers flexibility but requires more administrative oversight.
• Personalized: No pre-established curriculum. The plan is defined individually for each student based on their knowledge area and final project topic. This is only allowed for Academic Master's and Doctorates because of the intense individualized focus.

2.2. Select Your Delivery Modality: Presential or Distance

This is a critical decision impacting everything from classroom needs to technology infrastructure. The rules for what constitutes "distance" are strict.

• Presential (On-site) Programs:
  1. Define On-site Hours: Over 50% of the total clock hours must be in-person.
  2. Integrate Technology (Optional): You can use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as support, but it shouldn't change the modality designation.
  3. Scenario 1: 50%+ On-site: If non-presential hours are 30-50% of the total, you must have your Institutional Distance Education System (SIED) evaluated.
  4. Scenario 2: Less than 100% On-site: Explicitly detail in your study plan how non-presential hours will be covered with academic activities.
  5. Scenario 3: Intensive On-site Format: If you concentrate many hours into a single day, explain the pedagogical provisions to ensure active student participation.
• Distance Education Programs:
  1. Define Distance Hours: Non-presential hours must exceed 50% of the total clock hours (excluding final project/thesis work). This percentage applies to the total course load.
  2. Understand "Distance" Broadly: This includes semi-presential, assisted, open, virtual education, or any model where the teacher-student relationship is largely separated in time/space, using specially designed technological resources.
  3. SIED Evaluation: If non-presential hours are between 30% and 50% of the total, you must submit your SIED for evaluation.
  4. Consistency Check: If you offer both on-site and distance versions, they must have the identical study plan, total hours, title designation, and scope. Diplomas for distance learning versions should NOT mention the pedagogical option. Pro tip: This simplifies your life and maintains perceived quality.

If you offer an interinstitutional program: Ensure formal agreements are in place. If it involves foreign universities, clearly outline how titles will be handled according to Argentine regulations. Each participating institution must genuinely contribute.

3. Allocate Clock Hours Accurately

Hours are clock hours, not academic hours. This detail often trips up institutions. Be precise.

• Specialization: Minimum 360 clock hours, not including the final project. Must include practical training.
• Master's: Minimum 700 clock hours total. At least 540 hours for courses/seminars. The rest can be for the final project or complementary work.
• Doctorate: The university determines the exact number of hours.

Troubleshooting: Hour Discrepancies: Sometimes the sum of individual course hours doesn't quite match the total. Double-check your calculations. It's a common oversight that reviewers will spot immediately. Ensure practical training hours are clearly delineated where required, especially for Specializations.

Crafting Your Program's Identity: Objectives and Content

Beyond the structure, the substance of your program needs to be clearly articulated. What problem does it solve? Who is it for? What will students achieve?

4. Define Your Program's Core Identity

This section is about clarity and justification. Don't leave any room for ambiguity.

1. Fundamentación (Justification):
   • Explain the epistemological stance of your program within its discipline(s).
   • Describe its relevance as a project in a professional and/or academic field.
   • Clearly state why you are offering it in a specific modality (on-site or distance). This isn't just bureaucracy; it's your program's elevator pitch.
2. Name Your Program and Title: Make sure the program name and the title to be awarded are consistent and clear.
3. State Your Objectives:
   • Social Dimension: What scientific, technological, or artistic contributions will your program make to the immediate and broader community?
   • Institutional Dimension: What institutional achievements do you expect from this program's development, distinct from student achievements? For example, will it strengthen a particular research line or foster new collaborations?
4. Specify Admission Requirements:
   • Clearly list all conditions for prospective students.
   • Ensure a strong correspondence between the program's profile and the required prior disciplinary training of applicants. If your Master's is in Advanced Data Science, don't admit someone with only a Fine Arts degree without a clear leveling-up pathway.
5. Detail Your Location(s):
   • Indicate all institutional and geographical locations where academic activities will take place.
   • If using another institution's facilities, attach the relevant agreement and describe the institutional, academic, and infrastructure conditions.
   • Confirm alignment with the CPRES (Consejo Regional de Planificación de la Educación Superior) or provide documentation approving delivery outside your usual CPRES jurisdiction.

Pro Tip: Internal Consistency: Ensure your program's justification, objectives, and curriculum content are all singing the same tune. A disconnect here is a red flag for evaluators.

Final Evaluation and Student Progression

The culmination of any postgraduate program is the final assessment. This needs to be robust and appropriate for the degree level. Additionally, how you manage your students from admission to graduation is crucial.

5. Design Your Final Evaluation and Student Policies

This section addresses how students complete the program and how they are supported throughout their candidature.

5.1. Final Project Requirements

The type of final work must align with the program's objectives and profile. This is where the rubber meets the road for student learning.

• Specialization: An individual, integrative final project. This could be a project, work, case study, essay, field work report, etc. It must demonstrate integration of learning and address a specific problem. An oral defense might be required.
• Professional Master's: An individual, written final project (project, work, case study, essay, field work report, etc.) demonstrating integrated learning, deepened knowledge in a professional field, and innovative skills. Requires a supervisor.
• Academic Master's: An individual, written thesis in a disciplinary or interdisciplinary field. It must show critical study of relevant information and command of research methodology. Requires a supervisor.
• Doctorate: An individual, written thesis demonstrating command of research methodology, academic excellence, and originality. Requires a supervisor.
• Jury Composition for Master's and Doctorates:
  • At least three members.
  • At least one member must be external to the university.
  • The supervisor is excluded from the jury.
• Language:
  • For Argentine institutional or interinstitutional programs, written work and defense are in Spanish or Portuguese.
  • For interinstitutional programs with foreign universities, the language is determined by program regulations.
  • Defense typically occurs at a university physical location, preferably where the program was taught. Exceptions for language or remote defense (using synchronous technology) must be well-justified.
• Submission for Evaluation: You'll need to submit at least the last two approved final works.

Watch out for: Supervisor qualifications. Supervisors (and co-supervisors) for Master's and Doctorates must have a strong research background. For non-thesis projects, they need sufficient merit in the relevant scientific, technological, or artistic field. They should preferably belong to your institution and hold a degree at least equivalent to the program they are supervising.

5.2. Student Management Policies

Your program's regulations must clearly define:

• Any leveling courses needed.
• Admission policies, processes, and conditions.
• Policies and processes for student and graduate follow-up.
• Strategies to gradually increase graduation rates.
• Requirements for permanence, promotion, and graduation.
• The maximum percentage of equivalencies accepted.

Rhetorical question: How do you ensure students don't get lost in the shuffle between admission and graduation?

Building Your Academic Core: Faculty and Research

The quality of your faculty and the research environment directly impact the quality of your program. This is where your program's academic reputation is built.

6. Assemble Your Academic Team and Research Environment

Your faculty are the backbone of the program. Their qualifications and institutional integration are key accreditation points.

6.1. Academic Management Structure

1. Define Roles: Your institutional regulations must explicitly detail the academic-administrative management functions.
2. Minimum Structure: This must include a Director (or equivalent) who is the academic head, supported by an academic committee.
3. Director Qualifications: For Master's and Doctorates, the Director must hold a degree at least equivalent to the program they lead. Exceptions are allowed for new academic areas without a strong postgraduate tradition, but require strong CV justification.

6.2. Academic Body Composition

This includes the program director, academic committee members, teaching staff, and thesis supervisors.

1. Qualifications: All members must have postgraduate training equivalent to or higher than what the program offers, aligned with its objectives. Alternatively, equivalent formation through professional, teaching, or research experience can be accepted.
2. Institutional Programs (Single University):
   • At least 50% of teaching staff must be stable faculty with institutional trajectory. This can be slightly lower for specific regions or emerging postgraduate fields.
   • The remaining 50% can be guest lecturers.
   • For Academic Master's and Doctorates, aim for a growing percentage of stable faculty with exclusive or semi-exclusive dedication.
3. Interinstitutional Programs (Multiple Universities):
   • The teaching staff must include stable faculty from each associated institution.
   • Overall, at least 50% of faculty must belong to the universities offering the program. This can be flexible if justified by disciplinary or territorial needs.
   • If foreign institutions are involved, Argentine universities must collectively contribute at least 30% of the teaching staff.

6.3. Research and Transfer Activities

For Academic Master's and Doctorates, explicitly detail:

• Institutional research and technological development environments (centers, institutes, etc.) for student work.
• Existing research programs, projects, and lines relevant to the program's theme.
• Plans to sustain and gradually increase these research activities.

Ensuring Adequate Support: Infrastructure and Finances

A good program needs good resources. Don't skimp on detailing how you'll provide a conducive learning and research environment.

7. Detail Your Infrastructure, Equipment, and Financial Resources

Prove that your program is sustainable and well-resourced.

1. Physical Space and Equipment:
   • List all available facilities, labs, equipment, IT resources, networks, and didactic materials.
   • Clearly state which resources belong to the university and which are accessed via agreements. Ensure they are adequate for program activities.
2. Bibliographic Resources:
   • Describe access to physical and virtual libraries, documentation centers.
   • Confirm they are quantitatively and qualitatively updated to support the program and associated research.
   • Outline plans for gradual improvement of these resources.
3. Academic Sustainability Report: Provide a report demonstrating the long-term viability of the program.
4. Linked Institutions (Non-Interinstitutional):
   • Detail any other agreements with non-university institutions (or university institutions that don't make the program interinstitutional) related to infrastructure, equipment, or resources.
   • Ensure specific agreements clearly state what facilities are available to students and faculty and the access conditions.

The Accreditation Process Itself: What to Expect

You've built your program, now you need to get it accredited. This is a formal process with specific steps and potential outcomes.

8. Navigate the Accreditation and Official Recognition Process

This is the final hurdle. Understand the steps and be prepared for potential feedback.

1. Scope of Accreditation: It applies to both new programs (no students yet) and existing programs (with or without graduates).
2. Validity: Initial accreditation for new programs or those without graduates is for three years. Subsequent validity is per regulations.
3. Peer Committees and Advisory Commissions:
   • Members must have postgraduate formation equivalent to or higher than the faculty being evaluated.
   • Universities propose evaluators to CONEAU.
   • Committees aim for representation from diverse regions and scientific/philosophical currents.
   • You'll propose which disciplinary commission should evaluate your program.
   • There will be a stage for potential recusation or excusation of committee members.
4. Interviews and Visits: Expect on-site visits and interviews as part of the evaluation to complement your written submission.
5. Resolutions and Feedback:
   • If CONEAU issues an unfavorable opinion, you'll get a chance to respond before a "non-accreditation" resolution.
   • You'll propose action plans to fix deficiencies, including a timeline for improvements if it's an existing program.
   • Resolutions will clearly indicate strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to request reconsideration or plan improvements.
6. Reconsideration: You can request reconsideration of CONEAU's decisions. This requires specific new evidence addressing previously noted weaknesses. The result of reconsideration is final administratively. Only accredited programs are publicly listed once resolutions are firm.
7. Official Recognition: The entire process for accreditation and official recognition follows the procedures outlined in RM 51/2026 (as updated in 2026), with "new programs" replacing "project proposals."

Specialized Standards for Health Science Specializations

If your program falls into medicine, biochemistry, pharmacy, or odontology, there are additional, very specific requirements you must meet.

9. Apply Specific Standards for Medical Specializations

These are detailed and critical for ensuring patient safety and quality of training.

9.1. Types of Medical Specializations

• Basic Clinical/Surgical: Requires a medical degree, direct patient practice.
• Post-basic Clinical/Surgical: Requires prior basic specialization (e.g., cardiology after internal medicine), direct patient practice.
• Non-Assistance Medical: Requires a medical degree, no direct patient practice.

9.2. Plan of Study Requirements (Medical)

• Entry Requirements: Medical degree (validated for foreign degrees), habilitating professional license (for assistance types).
• Duration and Hours (Minimums):
  • Basic Clinical/Surgical: 3 years, 1760 hours/year (80% practical, 20% theoretical), 40 hours/week.
  • Post-basic: 2 years, 1760 hours/year (80% practical, 20% theoretical), 40 hours/week.
  • Non-Assistance: 2 years, 350 hours/year (40% practical, 60% theoretical), 8 hours/week.

9.3. Practical Training (Medical)

Must include theoretical-practical integration (athenaeums), supervised assistance activities (defining minimum procedures), supervised rotations, intensive activities (patient follow-up, critical situations; never solely on the specialist-in-training), and research/extension activities.

9.4. Final Evaluation (Medical)

Must assess competencies and include an individual final project (case study, essay, etc.) integrating learning.

9.5. Academic Body (Medical)

Must have teaching formation/experience, clear roles, and ongoing faculty training opportunities.

9.6. Infrastructure (Medical)

Practice spaces must support formative capacity, adhere to biosecurity norms (with training for students/staff), and access must be guaranteed by university ownership or formal agreements.

10. Apply Specific Standards for Biochemical Specializations

10.1. Types of Biochemical Specializations

• Assistance: Requires biochemistry degree, direct patient practice (rotations, TFI).
• Assistance Associated with Residencies: Requires biochemistry degree, direct patient practice (residency, rotations, TFI).
• Non-Assistance: Requires biochemistry degree, no direct patient practice (TFI).

10.2. Plan of Study Requirements (Biochemical)

• Entry Requirements: Biochemistry degree (validated for foreign degrees).
• Activities: Theoretical-practical, practical, rotations, TFI-related activities.
• Duration and Hours (Minimums):
  • Assistance: 2 years, 600 hours (70% practical, 30% theoretical-practical), supervised.
  • Assistance with Residencies: 3 years, 1760 hours/year (70% practical, 30% theoretical-practical), supervised.
  • Non-Assistance: 2 years, 360 hours (60% practical, 40% theoretical-practical), supervised.

10.3. Final Evaluation (Biochemical)

Must assess competencies and include an individual TFI (Trabajo Final Integrador) (project, case study, etc.) integrating learning, with optional oral defense.

10.4. Academic Body & Infrastructure (Biochemical)

Similar to medical specializations regarding qualifications, training, biosecurity, and guaranteed access to practice spaces.

11. Apply Specific Standards for Pharmaceutical Specializations

11.1. Plan of Study Requirements (Pharmaceutical)

• Entry Requirements: Pharmaceutical degree (validated for foreign degrees).
• Duration and Hours (Minimums): 2 years minimum, 360 hours (50% practical, 50% theoretical), supervised. Must have TFI tutorials.

11.2. Final Evaluation (Pharmaceutical)

Must include an individual, integrative TFI (project, case study, etc.) integrating learning.

11.3. Academic Body & Infrastructure (Pharmaceutical)

Similar to medical specializations regarding qualifications, training, biosecurity (where required), and guaranteed access to practice spaces.

12. Apply Specific Standards for Odontological Specializations

12.1. Types of Odontological Specializations

• Assistance: Requires dentistry degree, direct patient practice (clinical/restorative, surgical).
• Non-Assistance: Requires dentistry degree, no direct patient practice.

12.2. Plan of Study Requirements (Odontological)

• Entry Requirements: Dentistry degree.
• Duration and Hours (Minimums):
  • Assistance: 2 years minimum. Clinical/Restorative: 1500 hours. Surgical: 3000 hours. 80% of total hours must be specific content.
  • Non-Assistance: 2 years minimum (or 12 months for justified intensive modality). 360 hours total.

12.3. Practical Training (Odontological)

• Assistance: Must include theoretical-practical integration and clinical assistance activities (80% of total hours) with minimum procedures defined.
• Non-Assistance: Theoretical-practical integration (60% of total hours), methodological/complementary practical activities (40% of total hours).

12.4. Academic Body & Infrastructure (Odontological)

Similar to medical specializations regarding qualifications, training, biosecurity, and guaranteed access to practice spaces.