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For those who don’t speak or read Khmer, the national language of Cambodia, it can be difficult to find information on recognition of institutions.
Today’s blog post is a deep dive into a number of different resources to make that easier for credentials evaluators and students who want to ensure their studies are taken at recognized institutions.
Private higher education has been available in Cambodia since 1997, with the establishment of Norton University. Since the 2000s, private higher education institutions have flourished, comprising 60% or more of enrollments very quickly.
The Accreditation Committee of Cambodia (ACC) was established in 2003 to oversee the quality of higher education institutions. The ACC is an external quality assurance body with the goal of monitoring and improving the quality of higher education in Cambodia.
From 2005-2008, the ACC established their standards, assessment tools, and nationally recognized criteria designed to create universal quality standards against which all higher education institutions could be measured and accredited in a consistent, transparent manner.
In 2008, the ACC announced that it had reviewed the basic education process of most of the higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in 2006/2007 and 2007/2008. Of the 83-84 higher education institutions under the MoEYS, 33 were fully accredited in 2006/2007, 5 were fully accredited in 2007/2008, and 32 were granted provisional accreditation. Another 3higher education institutions were identified as not providing accreditation. That list was released by the ACC in 2008 and is in the list of resources below.
In 2010, the MoEYS released a detailed list of higher education institutions, their parent ministry, the year of establishment, and the training levels of study (Associate, Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate) degrees that were offered. One of the institutions that was identified on the ACC list as not providing accreditation is on this list as “Halted,” but the others are not. One of the other institutions is still recognized today, and the remaining one lost its recognition a few years later.
In 2012, the ACC finished developing their minimum quality standards for accreditation of higher education institutions, and in 2013, the ACC was placed under control of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS).
From 2015-2017, the ACC underwent a test pilot of their new national standards with 54 higher education institutions. After the exercise, 39 institutions were accredited, one of which was provisionally accredited. The ACC released the information in their Summary Report on the Assessment of Accreditation of Higher Education institutions, Round 1, from 2019 to 2023. This report is shared on the MoEYS website and listed below. Full accreditation lasts for five years, while provisional accreditation lasts for 2-3 years.
Accreditation by ACC in Cambodia is voluntary, but recognition by the Ministry is not. Between 2019 and 2023, approximately 40 higher education institutions have obtained accreditation from ACC. However, even though the ACC has only accredited approximately one-third of higher education institutions in Cambodia, their published requirements and accreditation standards have already helped redefine the higher education system. In addition, the government is providing financial incentives to accredited higher education institutions, which incentivizes them to apply for accreditation.
Most higher education institutions in Cambodia are under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), but other ministries are also involved. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training is the largest oversight body after the MoEYS, and it controls Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
There are also higher education institutions under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Cults and Religions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, and still others.
Over the last decade or so, the Ministry has become much more active about sharing lists of recognized institutions. However, institutions recognized prior to 2015 is more difficult to come by. It is often necessary to look for the institution’s name in Khmer on the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) website, which will provide the legislation about recognition and, sometimes, de-recognition, or removal or recognition, about institutions. You can also look on the Ministry of Justice website for the same information.
The higher education sector in Cambodia has held steady over the last decade or so. In 2013, there were 110 higher education institutions. In 2021-2022, there were 132 universities under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (48 public institutions and 84 private higher education institutions). The 2025 Guidebook for Selecting Academic Institutions and Majors for Continuing Higher Education (also translated as the Orientation Guide for Higher Education in Cambodia) from the MoEYS lists 126 higher education institutions under the MoEYS.
In exciting news, the Department of Higher Education of the MoEYS has released a list of higher education institutions for 2024-2025 that includes all public and private institutions under all 17 ministries. This is listed in the resources as well.
Resources:
Websites:
Accreditation Committee of Cambodia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/accgovkh (has shared several lists of accredited institutions here)
Accreditation Committee of Cambodia website: https://acc.gov.kh/ and https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MqlGavuA2FOkfuIGdzrthNmX7Whk09UE/view?fbclid=IwY2xjawLsfeRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFCZDFEZXYxVVEwU1pER1oyAR6MTIKsK2rL7Yhi_va3mF1wPR0_UW_P2gBVSNphBCsbG0NwU4XZQaB9rSxfvg_aem_yPw7C3CnlKhvhio7mPKi-w&pli=1 and https://web.archive.org/web/20111119211912/http://www.acc.gov.kh:80/downloads/Anountment_institues_2007_2008.pdf and https://web.archive.org/web/20071006124005/http://www.acc.gov.kh/ACC.gov.kh/institutions.htm
Economic, Social and Cultural Council:
https://www.ecosocc.gov.kh/regulation
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports:
https://web.archive.org/web/20061110081554/http://www.moeys.gov.kh/en/about_moeys/public_hedu.htm and https://web.archive.org/web/20060906214035/http://www.moeys.gov.kh/en/about_moeys/private_hedu.htm
https://moeys.gov.kh/storage/uploads/documents/677b9dd079742.pdf and https://moeys.gov.kh/storage/uploads/documents/65d317f5bb3b5.pdf and https://web.archive.org/web/20100602082936/http://www.moeys.gov.kh/DownLoads/Name%20of%20Higher%20Education.pdf and https://web.archive.org/web/20110722132039/http://www.moeys.gov.kh/Higher_Education.php
and https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/higher-educations/document-1123 and https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/higher-educations/document-1124 and
https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/higher-educations/document-1128 and https://moeys.gov.kh/storage/uploads/documents/677b9dd079742.pdf
Ministry of Justice: https://www.moj.gov.kh/kh/law-regular?title=&category=&institute=20&month=&year=&btnSearch=
Department of Higher Education Management of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports: https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/dghe and https://dghekh.com/%e1%9e%94%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%9a%e1%9e%80%e1%9e%b6%e1%9e%9f/ and https://dghekh.com/%e1%9e%a2%e1%9e%93%e1%9e%bb%e1%9e%80%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%9a%e1%9e%b9%e1%9e%8f%e1%9f%92%e1%9e%99/
National Training Board: https://www.ntb.gov.kh/instituitions.htm
Guidebook for Selecting Academic Institutions and Majors for Continuing Higher Education:
2015: https://moeys.gov.kh/storage/uploads/documents/65d318d03f50c.pdf
2016: https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/non-fornal-educations/document-3770
2018: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17zSJd-Oataav16IulmsIH7y6OE1yN55x/view
2020: https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/higher-educations/document-1953
2021: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nePs88jitF8CDKVDJXZWbK0cKdwENPTA/view or https://moeys.gov.kh/kh/higher-educations/document-1907
More Publications:
Accreditation Committee of Cambodia: Review Report 2005-2008. Accreditation Committee of Cambodia, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20120904210929/http://www.acc.gov.kh:80/downloads/Report-2005-2008-for-APQN-final-edited.pdf
Accreditation of Higher Education. Kingdom of Cambodia, Royal Decree, 2003. https://data.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/laws_record/royal-decree-on-accreditation-of-higher-education
Anatomy of Higher Education Governance in Cambodia. CDRI: Cambodia’s Leading Independent Development Policy Research Institute, 2013. https://cdri.org.kh/storage/pdf/wp86e_1617793377.pdf
Cambodia Qualifications Framework. National Training Board, 2012. https://cambodiancouncilofnurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cambodia-qualification-framework_Eng.pdf
Cambodia: TVET Country Profile. UNESCO-UNEVOC, 2026. https://unevoc.unesco.org/home/Dynamic+TVET+Country+Profiles/country=KHM
Education Congress: The Education, Youth and Sport Performance in the Academic Year 2021-2022 and Goals for the Academic Year 2022-2023. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. https://moeys.gov.kh/storage/uploads/documents//67872083e6f02.pdf
General Information of TVET Institutes. Ministry of Labour and Vocation Training, 2021. https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@asia/@ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_821919.pdf
Higher Education Reforms. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 2024. https://sala.moeys.gov.kh/en/library/00003261
Minimum Standards for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions. Accreditation Committee of Cambodia, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120402163623/http://www.acc.gov.kh/downloads/Standard-in-English.pdf
National Report: Cambodia. Regional Cooperation in the Field of Recognition among Asian Countries/RecoAsia, 2022. https://www.recoasia.eu/PDF/national-report/RecoASIA-National_Report-CAMBODIA.pdf
Policy on Higher Education Vision 2030. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, 2014. https://data.opendevelopmentmekong.net/dataset/69deb0ea-425c-40b0-ad58-216e0e676b77/resource/58a61004-a095-4eef-ba12-ebc864a2125b/download/1002-policy-on-higher-education-2030.pdf
Reimagining Higher Education in Cambodia: Modernizing Governance for Improved Access and Relevance. The World Bank, 2024. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099031924051037712/pdf/P17929010668ee0461b4bc119eb01d77991.pdf