The regulation in context

Pursuant to Article 15-A° of the University Law (Law No. 30220) — amended by the Nineteenth Complementary Modifying Provision of Law No. 32187 — the National Superintendence of Higher Education (SUNEDU) is responsible for "charging licensed universities the corresponding fees when they request the registration of new programs or modifications to their educational offerings."

Universities and licensed graduate schools may request SUNEDU to modify their educational offerings, including: (i) program creation; (ii) change of location; (iii) change of modality; (iv) change of name; (v) cessation of programs; and/or (vi) reorganization of programs, according to point 5 of the Directive. To do so, they must initiate the registration procedure contained in SUNEDU's Unique Text of Administrative Procedures (TUPA).

Page 21 of SUNEDU's TUPA outlines the process for the "registration of modifications to the academic offerings of universities and graduate schools," briefly describing the deadlines, forms, instances of resolution of appeals and the following requirements:

With the issuance of this Directive, the procedure has been extensively regulated to achieve timely verification of compliance with the Basic Quality Conditions (CBC), as stated in point 2 of the Directive.

Contents of the Directive

In accordance with point 6 of the Directive, the only two competent organizational units for processing the procedure are: (i) the Higher Education Service Verification Unit, which admits the application within five days and registers or declares it inadmissible within 25 days, depending on whether the requirements contained in SUNEDU's TUPA are met; and (ii) the Directorate of Evaluation of the University Higher Education Service, which — if applicable — cancels the registered modification (The Directive does not stipulate a maximum term for this action).

Although the documentation to be submitted (included in point 7.2 of the Directive) is identical to that required by SUNEDU's TUPA (indicated in the previous table), the novelty lies in the requirements. Point 7.1 of the Directive requires universities to detail the modification of the licensed academic offering, explaining compliance with the CBC in the new offering. Additionally, point 7.3 of the Directive introduces new procedure deadlines, which are illustrated as follows:

Finally, the Directive establishes in point 8 that filing an application for the registration of modifications to licensed academic offerings is subject to the fees set forth in Article 15-A of the University Law. Likewise, point 9 indicates that registration applications submitted to SUNEDU prior to the entry into force of this Directive must comply with its provisions.

Criticism of the Directive

Despite its recent issuance, the Directive is already receiving critical comments. Why? Because SUNEDU has been facing a lack of information from universities regarding their compliance with the CBC. It does not seem that the measures established in this Directive effectively address the verification of CBC compliance, unlike public audits or continuous monitoring platforms.

In addition, the Directive is controversial because SUNEDU no longer approves new academic offerings, as we mentioned in the alert of 8 August 2024. However, with this procedure — even though it is included in the TUPA — SUNEDU seems to ignore this change, and it appears that we have reverted to an administrative procedure requiring SUNEDU's final approval.

Another surprising point is that the Superintendence Resolution approving the Directive modifies SUNEDU's TUPA, even though it is not a supreme decree. We understand that SUNEDU is using the Seventy-Seventh Final Complementary Provision² of the Public Sector Budget Law for Fiscal Year 2024 to modify an "internal" management document. However, this overlooks the fact that the TUPA is a management document, not an internal one, as it directly impacts SUNEDU's relationship with public and private universities and those administered in general.

As if this were not enough, and as we mentioned in the alert of 15 January 2024, SUNEDU is still pending the regulation of the Annual Compliance Report (IAC), through which universities will be able to attest to compliance with the CBC by conducting audits. However, this is not yet a reality. While we await the relevant regulation, SUNEDU may employ its main regulatory devices associated with its oversight function, which include:

Conclusions and recommendations

• To date, all public and private universities, as well as licensed graduate schools, requesting the registration of modifications to licensed academic offerings must (i) comply with all the requirements established for the procedure (also described in this alert) and (ii) accredit compliance with the CBC within their institution, especially in the new academic offerings.
• Likewise, and in accordance with the Transitory Complementary Provision contained in point 9 of the Directive, SUNEDU requires that all applications for the registration of modifications to licensed academic offerings comply with the new rules, deadlines, requirements and documentation as stipulated in the Directive. This implies that universities with applications in progress must include a detailed explanation of the mechanisms and/or strategies implemented to benefit the CBC in the new offering. Failure to do so may result in the Higher Education Service Verification Unit declaring the application inadmissible, or the Directorate of Evaluation of the University Higher Education Service canceling the registered modification.
• However, we note that this Directive contradicts the amendments made to university legislation, as its entry into force would allow the processing of a procedure subject to SUNEDU's approval, despite such a requirement being eliminated from education sector regulations. Additionally, the questioned "authorization" to modify SUNEDU's TUPA, approved by a supreme decree, was done via a resolution of SUNEDU's board of directors. This decision is controversial, and legal action against it has already been announced.

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We trust that this information will be useful to you and your university. Should you require legal advice on any of the above topics, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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1 The Directive was not published in the official gazette El Peruano, as it was not approved by SUNEDU's board of directors. Likewise, in the Annex to the Resolution of the Board of Directors No. 0001-2025-SUNEDU, José Ahmed Pereyra López, a member of SUNEDU's board of directors, expressed his disagreement with the Directive. He argued that it would generate "irregular non-retroactivity and legal uncertainty for universities that have already registered their new offerings, and what SUNEDU should do is verify compliance with the CBC through the appropriate supervisory mechanisms" (paragraph 7 of the Annex).

2 "SEVENTY-SEVENTH. Within the framework of strengthening the quality assurance of university higher education, the National Superintendence of Higher Education (SUNEDU) is authorized to restructure itself organically and modify its internal management documents, in accordance with its status as an autonomous entity, for the purpose of fully implementing the scope of Law No. 31520."